MANY families in Igbo communities have been thrown into crises as a result of what fake prophets and pastors said about a member or members of the family. False prophecies given by people who claim to be prophets of God have indeed destroyed many families and even communities.
Narrating the story, Nnadi said: “One of my siblings fell sick and despite being attended to by many hospitals, she did not get better. Later, a suggestion was made for the family to take her to a local herbalist and after several months with the herbalist, her sickness still did get better. “We were all perplexed and from that day, bitter hatred entered our family. We no longer visit each other and the person who was accused became withdrawn from the public. When he died three years later, no member of the family participated in his burial ceremony.
“When the pastor came, he ordered every family to bring out their ancestral symbols of authority which, he alleged, were responsible for our poverty. He also ordered the cutting down of all the monumental trees in the community, claiming that our ancestors buried charms that were holding our progress.They’ve caused serious harm to the society, they should be checkmated —Obosi monarch
The action of the youths was prompted by a crusade held by the villagers who invited a prophet said to be popular in the area who presided over the three-day event to fish out the evil men in the village. And in the course of the programme, he fingered a member of the community as one of the evildoers in the village, but the man rejected the allegation and insisted that he was innocent.
He said: “True prophecy can’t bring crisis to families, churches or communities but it is meant to foretell or reveal the events of the future. The menace of fake prophecies from supposed men of God is a result of people claiming what they are not. You know there’s a high level of poverty and unemployment in our society which has made people claim to be what they are not to survive.
A community leader in Okpofe, Ezinihitte Mbaise Council area of Imo State, Chief Jasper Nwachukwu, narrated how his aunt and her children have not stepped into their family for more than 17 years for fear of being harmed.