A day at Chris Oyakhilome’s Christ Embassy Church

“Ahn, Ahn! I had raised the dead before,” Doyin, a Christ Embassy member, said flippantly, gesturing her hands towards me as though I was being ridiculous by being sceptical that a dead person could be resurrected.

“Really?” My eyes widened, and a smile parted my lips as I adjusted my seat toward her. However, before I could settle in, Doyin added, “Through faith,” hurrying away without sharing more information.

Before my encounter with Doyin, a video of the General Overseer of Christ Embassy Church, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, where he stated that he had resurrected 50 people, had gone viral in Nigeria.

“More than 50 people raised from the dead within the last year,” Mr Oyakhilome said cockily. “Maybe we bribed them in hell or heaven to come back,” he added as he paced the stage during his church’s live-streamed “healing” programme.

In the video, which went viral in late March, the cleric had nine people on a mobile bed wheeled on stage. There was no mention of their ailments, but one of the “sick” was shaking as though battling a cold. Like a magician on a stage, Mr Oyakhilome said a short prayer, pointing towards the people on the bed.

“In the name of Jesus Christ, every sickness leaves you, every demon goes away from you, every pain ceases now, and you are healed.

“Get up from your bed!” the pastor said in a final command. Instantly, the nine people jumped up, with some rolling on the floor and others in jubilant mood, in what appeared to be an outstanding performance.

The incident, which happened during the Healing Streams Festival of Miracles Season 9 of Mr Oyakilome’s church on 21 March, generated an online controversy. Many Nigerians expressed disbelief as they watched clips of the footage, while others said, “Nothing is impossible.” Following the speculations, I decided to visit the church and see how ‘miracles’ were performed.

Testimonies with a twist of marketing

At about 8:50 a.m. on Sunday, 24 March, I joined a crowd on Billingsway Road, with many heading to the Christ Embassy Church Headquarters at Oregun, Ikeja.

I was on time for the church’s second service, which started at 9:00 a.m. Shortly into the service, Pastor Yemisi, a dark-skinned woman, encouraged the congregation to buy and read the church’s book, Rhapsody of Realities, authored by Mr Oyakhilome. The 75-page book is sold for N600 and produced monthly.

Following her encouragement, a lady who identified herself as Susan from Sierra Leone shared a testimony.

“On Nov 21, 2021, I began to poo and urinate on my body uncontrollably,” Susan started her narration, instantly commanding the congregation’s attention.

The church’s auditorium went silent as Susan’s voice echoed through. Susan claimed that during the predicament, she went to the hospital, where a series of tests was conducted, but the doctors could not find the source of her ailment. She said that she eventually realised she had hyperthyroidism, which she described as having two noodles on her thyroid. However, she followed a holy spirit instruction since her condition was not getting better.

“The holy spirit ministered to me to start preaching with the Rhapsody of Realities. After I started doing that, he told me to start preaching with a megaphone, and after a while, I became healed,” Susan added, “I am a result of Rhapsody of Realities. I am a testimony!”

According to the Mayo Clinic, hyperthyroidism happens when the thyroid gland puts too much thyroid hormone into the bloodstream. The condition is also called overactive thyroid. The American Thyroid Association (ATA) states that patients with the ailment can be treated with radioactive iodine therapy, antithyroid drugs, or thyroidectomy.

A medical practitioner I consulted, Akpuka Samson, explained that hyperthyroidism can only be managed, not cured.

“You take tests to know what is causing it, then you take drugs to suppress the antigene,” Mr Akpuka said.

After Susan’s testimony, the church erupted with claps and a chorus of “Hallelujah!” Pastor Yemisi then encouraged her Sierra Leonean parish to partner with the church for the Rhapsody of Realities and become a distributor.

Denial is construed as faith – “You must not admit to being sick.”

During the service, I spoke with an usher who asserted Pastor Oyakhilome could indeed raise the dead. However, when I asked if she knew anyone who had been raised from death, she said she didn’t.

As the service continued, a series of ministers mounted the pulpit to preach. One of the ministers prayed, stretching his hands towards the congregation. A few people moved towards him, positioned their heads below his hands, and instantly fell to the ground as though acting on cue. I quickly stood up to take a video.

“If you try it! If you try it! I will have your phone seized,” a threatening voice roared behind me.

The person later introduced herself as Faith, a protocol officer in the church. When I inquired why I couldn’t use my phone, she responded:

“Using your phone during service is against the church rules.” She added, “It is pasted at the front of the church by the entrance to switch off your phones before entering.”

Five minutes later, I looked back at Faith, and her head was buried in her phone as she typed profusely. A part of me was scared, though. “Maybe she was texting people to send me out of the church,” I thought.

After the church service, I joined some first-timers in a separate hall for ‘new church members orientation.’ I met several church workers from whom I inquired about the church’s healing and resurrection power. I informed them that I wanted to resurrect my dead father and that I was also battling fibroid and needed healing.

One of the church’s workers, Tochi, assured me that healing was available. Sharing his testimony, Tochi recalled that he once had a pain in his leg, which intensified after he prayed on it but eventually disappeared a few days later.

He said the trick is to never admit to being sick.

“Use words like ‘They said I am sick’ instead of ‘I am sick.’” Tochi said, “It is a sign of faith.”

Another worker, James, emphasised that a healing process starts with “obedience.” He also asked who I wanted to resurrect. When I responded, “My dead father,” he asked how long he had been dead, and I said, “Five years.”

James then responded smirkingly, “Forget it! He cannot be resurrected. How could you expect someone dead for so long and buried to be resurrected?”

Then, a member who said he was “like a bishop” and identified himself as Payne said they can only raise someone who has died within a few seconds. He gave an example: Gesturing towards the floor like an imaginary person was lying there and positioning his right arm like an earth-bender about to lift a rock, he shouted, “Come back to life!”

He then locked eyes with me, “That is how it is done. The person would resurrect after the command.”

When asked if the only time they could resurrect a person was if the person just died, he said they could raise someone who had been killed between a day and seven days.

My healing time!

I told Payne that I had fibroid and asked if he could heal me. He said he could and instructed me to wrap my hands around my stomach. He shut his eyes, pointed towards my tummy, and prayed with utmost seriousness.

“I command the demon inside this stomach to disappear in Jesus’ name!” Payne repeated this instruction a couple of times.

After the prayer session, I asked him if I was cured.

“If you believe you are healed, you are,” Payne said with a facial expression like that of Bovi in the ‘Visa on Arrival’ series when he wants to woo an applicant. “I have given you the power through the word of Jesus Christ; receiving the healing is up to you,” he added.

I asked why I had to “receive” the healing since he was the one with the healing power and all he had to do was “heal,” but he insisted it was all about my belief. If I believe that I am healed, then I am.

Various media reports have unveiled what healing by belief is in Africa. One of such is a BBC three-part documentary on the late Nigerian televangelist TB Joshua, released on 8 January. The documentary revealed how the late Nigerian televangelist faked miracles and brainwashed sick people into believing they were healed, which ultimately led to the death of some of them.

Fisayo Soyombo’s investigation titled “PROPHETS OF THEIR POCKETS (I): At Celestial Church of Christ Headquarters, There Are Over 100 Prophet-Scammers” also revealed how spiritual leaders make false predictions and perform fake healings.

Training on being a healing recipient – “You must learn how to receive and respond to it.”

It was 3:05 p.m., and after spending hours in the church, I was ready to leave. However, there was a snag!

A marshal told me that I could not leave while a programme was going on. He said if people were allowed to leave, those waiting at the gate would rush in, and they didn’t want that just yet.

I decided to use the opportunity to talk to the marshal, who had now introduced himself as Davies, about the church’s healing power.

Davies told me his personal experience with healing. But his testimony was similar to Tochi’s, signalling that the church perhaps trains their workers on what to tell people.

Like Tochi, Davies said he had pains in his leg; he prayed on it, and the pains intensified before disappearing days later.

Davies also claimed to know a lady who had breast cancer and was healed.

“Her right breast had been cut off,” he said. “The cancer has also affected her left breast, and when I registered her for our healing streams programme, she attended and was eventually healed,” Davies said.

He also encouraged me to read more testimonials from their healing streams for inspiration. The platform was filled with people claiming various illnesses that were healed through the power of Pastor Oyakilohme.

“I participated onsite for the October Live Healing Stream with Pastor Chris. On 29th October, Pastor Chris ministered to me, and immediately, the tension in my neck and head resulting from Bell’s palsy ceased completely. I felt power in my hands and feet throughout the night,” a testimonial attributed to one Rosemary Aboh on the website reads.

When I asked Davies how I could experience such healing, he explained that the next healing programme would be in three months, in June 2024. However, there is a caveat:

“The healing is not instant.” Davies said, “First, you must increase your faith. You must also learn how to receive healing, respond to it, and retain it.”

This seemed familiar with Pastor TB Joshua’s strategies as unmasked in the BBC documentary, where people were first brainwashed over some time to accept whatever theatrics the televangelists perform as “healing.”

I reached out to Christ Embassy for comments on this report but its officials declined to speak on findings.

A male voice answered the call to the official number available online for Christ Embassy but he declined to comment. “I am just a pastor in one of the church branches,” he said. “I am not sure there is an official person that makes comments on behalf of the church to the media, but if you want to get the information, you may have to go to the headquarters for your findings.”

Following the pastor’s advice, I once again visited the Christ Embassy at Billings Way, Oregun, Ikeja, where I was referred to a church official named Patricia. I called her, but she asked me to call back after hearing my inquiry. Patricia, who identified as a deaconess, has failed to answer calls and messages since then.

Nonetheless, I spoke to a medical health professional to inquire if diseases like breast cancer can be cured by prayer or preaching. The medical doctor, Francis Agbaraolorunpo, seemed puzzled by the question.

“Preaching alone cannot cure any problem. Preaching may solve spiritual problems, but ailments like cancer and the like are not spiritual problems; they are biological problems.”

He added, “Prayer can support healing because it can work as a psychotherapy, enhancing healing, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t see the doctor because you are praying.”

Another medical professional, O.M. Inyamg, said patients must seek medical assistance even if they pray.

“Yes, people can attend churches for prayers, but it must not be substituted with healing,” Mr Inyamg said.

Based on these findings, I contacted Christ Embassy Healing School for their comments, but none were received at the time of publication.

After waiting about 30 minutes at the Christ Embassy’s Headquarters, I was finally let out of the church’s door. Still, I had to squeeze through hundreds of people waiting eagerly at the passage to get into the auditorium for the day’s third service. They had been promised a “special” Sunday service.