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Since February of this year, I have had repeated dreams about terrorist attacks in Southern Nigeria, some of which my friends and I have personally taken up in prayer. I hesitated to share these attack dreams mainly because they were mostly doom and gloom. However, following the Owo Church Attack that happened last month on 5th June 2022, I thought it was better to share these dreams so the church could pray against them. Not only that, I also seek to encourage us on how God intends to turn these attacks around for His glory!
I have four dreams to share on this. I will paraphrase so this writeup does not get lengthy, but in case you’re interested in dream details, here is a slightly longer version for you to read:
In my first dream on 22nd February 2022, I saw a group of terrorists attack a gathering of Christian school kids in their chapel in the South-West. The terrorists came in suddenly and started spraying bullets everywhere. To increase terror, their leader, a woman, attempted to use poison on some hostages but met with the power of Jesus instead. She, her colleagues, and some other observers accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into their lives right there and then, the foundation of a revival in their camp.
My second dream on 9th March 2022, two weeks after the first dream, followed the same pattern as the first. There was a terrorist attack on a church auditorium in a South-South state of Nigeria, where teens/secondary school kids had gathered for an event. The terrorists were led by a woman, just like the first, and again, to maximize terror, they also changed strategy mid-way and employed chemical weapons.
Two VIPs, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and Pastor David Ibiyeomie, had been scheduled to meet with the kids that day. They arrived late and narrowly escaped this attack, which might have been directed at them primarily. In this dream, I also recognized Governor Wike as someone “presidential” but also knew he was the state governor. I woke up shortly after their arrival.
On waking, however, I got the knowing that had my dream continued, it probably would have ended up in the same way as my first dream, with the terrorists accepting the Lord Jesus into their lives.
A little over a month later, I had my third terrorist attack dream on 29th April 2022. In this dream, I saw flooding happen, closely followed by a terrorist attack on one of our trains, perhaps even the Abuja-Kaduna train again. It was not apparent to me if this flooding itself was a terrorist attack. Abuja was the main area I saw, but Anambra and Enugu also featured for some reason. I also saw these dates, 30th, and 23rd, although I did not get their months or years.
Finally, on 5th June 2022, the afternoon of the Owo Church Attack, I had a fourth dream where some folks and I gathered in a university lecture theatre for a dream code-breaking session that resulted in the following message:
“There is going to be an attack involving children using banks or involving banks using children.” (not sure which is which, as dreams are often funny like that, but I decided to write it out as received. You can also read “using” as “via.”)
I woke up shortly after this message was revealed and did not think much of it. Later that week, I got a notification on my phone from a Telegram group that I had never interacted with (I rarely interact on Telegram generally), talking about compiling and studying dreams about Nigeria. Perhaps this was the group of people I saw in my dream four days earlier?
Thoughts
The conversion of Saul on the road to Damascus is one of the most important stories of the New Testament. Because not only does this conversion deliver to us one of the most influential figures in Christianity, Paul, but it also elegantly showcases the tender mercies and lovingkindness of the Lord Jesus Christ in the grandest of ways: pardoning and adopting the very person fighting you.
Here’s a quick summary of this story. Saul was, essentially, whom you’d call a “terrorist” today. He was passionate but spiritually naive. He fought the early Christians with vigor because he believed he was doing righteous work for the God of the Jews, of which he was one. He, however, made a spiritual mistake in his persecution career that set him up for an eventual failure: He got involved in the killing of Stephen.
Stephen was one of the first seven deacons of the early church. He got stoned to death for professing his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. However, just before he died, Stephen earnestly prayed that the Lord Jesus would not hold his killing against any of his killers, including Saul (although Saul seemed to have had just a passive role in the killing). I believe the Lord honored Stephen’s prayer, resulting in Saul’s Damascus experience.
Targeting kids for evil is one of the worst things any human can do, and from my dreams above, it is clear that terrorists plan to target Nigerian school kids. I believe this is where God draws the line because kids are the apple of His eyes.
And so, just like the early church above, I believe we are at a similar Damascus moment in the Church in Nigeria, evidenced by the first two dreams that the Lord had given me. Many “Sauls” in Nigeria are about to make serious spiritual mistakes that will cause them to experience God’s power, resulting in the salvation of their souls and sparking a revival in their terrorist camp. It is the season we are in, and as the church in Nigeria, we must recognize this and maximize it.
We were only human when we cried out to God to avenge us in the past. I mean, perhaps there is no one alive today, who has seen all the evil done, that will not want some kind of payback. It is only natural. But God is calling us deeper. He wants us to partner with Him to save these terrorists; I can tell you this authoritatively. So we must rise above that instinct for vengeance in this period and adopt a different strategy.
Consider how much impact that the Apostle Paul’s letters have had on your Christian walk with God and how none of that could have happened without that simple mercy prayer from Stephen. So therefore, should we fail at this and continue to seek only vengeance, we may never get to experience our own set of Pauls that God intends to use in our day, right from Nigeria! Furthermore, we would have also denied the next generations of Christians of that same experience. So we must do better and seek mercy!
Vengeance is Mine, says the Lord. In other words, He has already answered our vengeance prayers long ago from the time of Moses. So, let us leave Him to avenge us as and when He sees fit. Instead, let us take a cue from Stephen and our Lord Jesus Christ and cry out for mercy for the souls of these Sauls. Only then can we boast of a level of perfection similar to that of our Father in Heaven.
Finally, do not think that the Apostle Paul got off easy either. No, he did not. In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ specifically mentioned that he, Paul, must suffer for his name. Paul was bound in chains like a criminal and kept in prison for a long time. History even has it that he was beheaded in the end. You might argue that it was just Christian persecution, but it also sounds like vengeance!
A few other points to note:
- No attack needs to happen for any terrorist to be saved. Saul himself got saved on his way to executing an attack, so these terrorists can also be saved before executing any attacks. Therefore, let us continue to intensely pray for the protection of our churches and schools in Nigeria, particularly against chemical weapons. Pray also that God should avert these planned attacks.
- My second dream mentions Governor Wike and Pastor Ibiyeomie. They are no strangers to one another and are reportedly close: Pastor Ibiyeomie ministered at the dedication of the newly built auditorium of the church Governor Wike’s Dad pastors last year; Governor Wike has also visited Pastor Ibiyeomie’s school site. Both are based in Rivers State. Please pray for them and Rivers.
- My second dream also introduced Governor Wike as “someone presidential.” That’s interesting because I had this dream two weeks before he declared his run for the presidency, and he has since been a key figure in the 2023 race. Perhaps he may also be instrumental to the presidency in the near future.
- To reiterate, and as point 1 says, our primary prayer focus is for God to prevent or avert these attacks. However, should these attacks still happen, and there are casualties, please try to remember the season we are in, as hard as it will be. Kindly partner with God by praying mercy for the souls of the terrorists. We gain nothing by constantly seeking vengeance except corrupting our souls with raging anger. In this season especially, leave justice to God!
- Finally, praying for protection or mercy is no excuse for us to be sitting ducks. God is no respecter of persons, so no one has more right to live than another. Please take precautionary steps; defend yourself. Self-defense is your God-given and constitutionally-protected right!
