THISDAYonline

She walked into the newsroom clutching a black medium sized bible. Wearing a simple skirt and blouse, she had on her head a scarf tied closely to her ear. She introduced herself as Evangelist Lovina Amangala- Iburene and the man with her as Pastor Enoch Iburene, her husband.

Evangelist Iburene, who said she was now an evangelist of the Truth Transport Evangelical Ministry wants the world to know her ordeal with Leader Olumba Olumba Obu, head of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star.

To prove that she was once a member of the brotherhood, she displayed a letter signed by one Pastor E. I Inyang, which states that: " the bearer is a full time missionary sent by the holy father, leader Olumba Olumba Obu to spread the gospel of the new kingdom of God on earth. To baptise and heal converts and non converts throughout Lagos State."

The letter continues: "the father has directed every brotherhood member and non-brotherhood members to support sister Lovina Amangala in every way possible".

Amangala-Iburene said she joined the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star in 1987 and was sent to Lagos State as a missionary in 1997 at the age of 38.

After this, she claimed to have been sent back to Okolomade Bethel Abua, Rivers State, as a missionary.

"It was there I started noticing so many strange happenings in my life. In fact the room they gave me almost turned into a zoo, animals of all types were coming into my room, at times I would see a snake at the corner, but because the father has told us that these animals are his angels we should not kill them or be scared of them, I always get a stick to drive them.

"Birds may come, circle my head and just go like that. If I come out to ease myself day and night, these things were happening to me; other members with me were complaining, one brother Felix complained that every midnight a particular owl will be at the back of his building singing".

She said the man was not comfortable about the explanations that the animals were Olumba angels but "I convinced him that is what father told us and that is why many members of the brotherhood of the cross and star are vegetarians".

Another incident that readily comes to her mind happened in 1999, then she said the brotherhood had a Pentecostal programme where they wanted to get the whole district together, "I was with a female leader, but I was facing the door while she backed it, when all of a sudden I saw a man in white sutan I did not give much thought to it until the man jumped sideways and disappeared. I shouted and narrated what happened to the female leader who told me father has appeared to you".

About two months later " papa again came to me, he appeared to me in my room with a wrapper and a singlet and asked me you have not asked me for the fruits of the womb. I replied it's because I'm not with anybody and I am serving you faithfully, he now replied I have given the fruits of the womb to you.

"Then I was not dating anybody although I met Pastor Enoch, who is now my husband before then but we parted ways because of my job. Not up to five months later, Pastor Enoch came back into my life, he proposed and we got married in 1999".

But what broke the camel's back happened not too long after the marriage. She alleged that : "we started seeing the fruits of the womb that he promised, my stomach started getting bigger, I was happy, I thought I was pregnant.

"One thing about the brotherhood is that the leader tells us not to go to the hospital or take any treatment, there was a member who got dismissed from the brotherhood because he had an operation. So we all tried to stay way from hospitals"

When the pregnancy was around five months I had to go to Calabar with the mind of going to testify and thank him for fulfilling the promise he gave to me. Four of us were to testify but when the third lady finished, the man turned and went back to the vestry so I could not give my testimony on that day".

She explained that what really disturbed her was that when the supposed pregnancy was about eight months: " I was almost passing away. I was feeling pains of all kinds, my husband now convinced me to go for a scan".

When she went for the scan, she got the shock of her life " You cannot believe it that big tummy that I was using to do ministry work, evangelism work, the scan showed no baby in the womb, the scan operator was surprised too he was asking were you not pregnant? I did not know what to say, about two months later the stomach started deflating".

But here is another painful thing that happend to Evangelist Amangala-Iburene: "before my experiences through my evangelical work, I had made many people join the brotherhood, I had also committed myself in writing two books declaring him as God, I don't know what came over me then, the first book was titled, Thank you my father, the second, In tune with the godhead".

Unfortunately, she did not have copies of the book with her when she called at our office although she claimed it circulated all over the world.

Evangelist Amangala Iburene also alleged that "this man appears in the form of animals to pester people. Come to brotherhood and see how many people have swollen tummies without pregnancies, most of them once it is nine months, they are about giving up".

Her ordeal with animals allegedly continued even after she left the brotherhood. She informed that: "before I left, anytime I visited the father at the headquarters just before he comes out I used to feel a kind of sensation so there are times when I will be in my house I will feel that sensation and when I look up I'll see a wall gecko starring.

"Ask my husband there was a day one circled our room four good times and when he succeeded in killing it I almost fainted he was shouting blood of Jesus before I came to my senses".

So why is she spilling all the beans now? Here her husband took over: "Through our missionary work for the brotherhood, we have helped to lure many souls, we want them to come out, that place is more than an occult and those who are still planning to go in should stop it or they'll see fire. We want the press to help us inform the public".

His wife continued: "though I wrote two books about him and I preached on him I want people to know that he is not what I thought he was."

She informed that in the book, Thank you my father she condemned Evangelist Helen Ukpabio "I even called her a satan's agent because she claimed something bad about Olumba, I never knew I'll be experiencing something similar"

On how she got into the brotherhood in the first place, Amangala-Iburene informed that she joined out of her own freewill. "my mother was a deeper life person, she was totally against my membership, she was always coming with pastors to preach to me , she died a year later out of frustration."

She also said that her husband suffered some mishap in the brotherhood: "Insects bit his hand and for one and half years, the hand was oozing blood, people were saying he donated his hand to Olumba"

"When he went to inform Olumba he said whatever happens to you I am the lord and you should not question God, I don't know what this man means, only God knows why He allows people like this man".

She said: "Last year Olumba told members that he was almost giving up now, his son is to take over. So the son's name was changed from Rowland Ogbu to Olumba Olumba Ogbu in fact they are now worshipping the son as God because the father is very old, in fact they are just messing up people's souls, that is why I feel that I just have to come to the press".

In her view most of the members are under spiritual slavery, "even if you cut their neck they'll not want to leave, how long will the brotherhood walk in darkness you people (the media) have to investigate the brotherhood."

But the leadership of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star has always denied engaging in shady practices. They also deny allegations that there leader was about to hand over to any other person at anytime.

A three-man team of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star, Apostle George Lee Okogie, Pastor Adolph Unoarumhi, and his wife, who visited the THISDAY Corporate Head-quarters, Lagos, last December insisted that, although Olumba Olumba Obu was about 80 years in age already, there was no question of somebody taking over from him since in their opinion, he would not die.

The Brotherhood of the Cross and Star, they said, was neither a Church, nor a cult, pointing out that the movement was the kingdom of God on earth.

"The Brotherhood is not a church, it is not a cult, we don't worship there but we believe in Jesus Christ, we recognise him as the way, the only door to God. The only fundamental difference on that between us and other Christians is that the Jesus Christ we know is already back on earth here with us," they explained, calling on Nigerians to do more to unravel who Olumba Olumba Obu was.

Insisting that the man was 'God', the team said Nigerians ought to have been inclined to know more about him by now, directing attention to the fact that in spite of the false claims against him, the vilification of him these past years, he has never for once issued a statement in defence of himself, in condemnation of those behind them or hold a crusade to refute such claims but has rather continuously and consistently preached love and peace.

Apostle Okojie was optimistic that Olumba Olumba Obu would soon be fully known in the country and beyond, suggesting that when people finally realise who he was, the bible would be enlarged.

"That would come pretty soon because shortly, there would be a new Bible. It would be called "the Reign of Christ". It would not have the old testament", Okojie said, reiterating that the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star was the kingdom of God on earth.

Drawing another parallel between the church and the movement, he said unlike the churches where the heads, pastors, only possess the power of healing, all believers and baptised of the Brotherhood possess the power.

On claims that the man was so old that he was unable to come out anymore, the team responded: "Since he came to Calabar to start the brotherhood, he had never physically travelled out of Calabar, he has no shoes, he has no vehicle, no vehicle can carry him.

"Of course, he has said a long time ago that he has finished his work, that he would never come out again. But he is ever busy, he never rests, he doesn't sleep. That is what should arouse people's curiosity about the man, could such a man be an ordinary being?"