He has been vilified without a response and therefore caught the image of a molester. However, meeting Dr. Chris Okafor, General overseer of Mountain of Liberation and Miracle Ministry cuts a different picture – sharp witted, cerebral and exuding a high level of both episcopal and philosophical calmness. He effortlessly exhibits control in the sprawling edifice at Ojodu that is the headquarters of his church. Just stepping down from his altar, he clutched the hand of his newly wedded wife, both dressed in white and tailed by a mammoth crowd that are his members. In his office, he calmly took Obinna Chima and Ahamefula Ogbu through his trajectories of life till when controversies found him. The man of God swore his innocence on allegations of molesting women, even his daughters and wondered why it was when it went public that he was remarrying that all the allegations started flying. He spoke of his early life, call, how the hand of God rested on him, chequered marriage, divorce, failed DNA test of two children and recovery to remarry, then the social media draggings… Excerpts:
Can you take us back to your early years—what was life like growing up, and how did your upbringing shape your worldview?
My parents were and are still very strong Christians, and the way we were raised prepared us for everything you see God doing today. Thirteen of us were living in one room – my parents, my siblings, and my cousins. I recall my mother had her bed on the left while my father’s bed used to be by the right, in the same room. While the girls would lie on the bed with my mother, we, the boys, would put a mat on the floor. Prayers for us were compulsory – morning and night. From there, I attended primary, secondary schools, and the university, where I obtained my First Degree before I came to Lagos. Lagos was the beginning of the journey of this ministry. Meanwhile, I must recall that I had three sisters ahead of me.
So, my mother was under pressure for a male child. Pressure in the sense that in a typical African setting, would always be demanding for a male child. I had two brothers who later died; my father was looking for more male children. So, my mum was praying. She attended a conference where a powerful prophet prophesied to my mother that she would have a son who would become a prophet and would be mightily used by God, and that his prophetic gifts would start manifesting from the age of seven or eight. It was she and my dad who received the prophecy with other men and women of God confirming the same thing. My name was already given before I was born, so they didn’t have to pray or think about a name to call me because it was a thing of the spirit. So, they gave me the native name Ihechukwu, which means light of God; Christian, which means Christ-like.
That was how my name came. So, as I said earlier, while growing up, it was a necessity that you must do morning devotion in my family, and everyone must fast on the weekends; it was compulsory. At the age of six, there was a primary school opposite our house. The late Archbishop Benson Idahosa was holding a crusade, and I went there as a little child. Different miracles happened that night, and when he called those who were willing to give their lives to Jesus to come out, I came out. He saw me and told them to allow me to climb to the stage where he was, and he laid hands on me and spoke prophetically that God was going to use me. To me, that was my encounter with Jesus personally. By the age of seven and eight, my prophetic gifts started manifesting strongly.
On one occasion, as a little boy, I had a dream. I called my mum and dad to pray against a death in my family, and they ignored it. A week later, there was an accident, and my cousin was affected, and she was almost dead. When my parents received the sad news, that was when they remembered what I told them. So, the gift continued to manifest. Sometimes they can be playing football, and God will reveal the final scores to me. I was born into an Anglican family. I attended Ohuoba Primary School at Murtala Muhammed Way, Benin City; attended Edo College, and then proceeded to Ambrose Alli University.
My dad was a carpenter, and my mum used to sell vegetables at Ekiosa market. While we, the boys, would always follow my dad to his shop, the girls would go to the market with my mum. I learnt carpentry, and I was building wooden doors and all manner of things. I built a wooden wheelbarrow, and every morning when I wake up, I go to fetch water from a far distance until it’s about 6 am, and I will start preparing for school. So, all these shaped my childhood. I was the first to become a graduate in my family and there were many other ways through God’s privilege that I was prepared for this calling. When I got to Lagos, I did not know anybody and I went to a school and appealed to a security man to allow me to be sleeping in the small room with him. In the morning, I will take my shower and go out for evangelism and my street ministrations. It was from there a good man, an Anglican priest, Rev. Chuks Elezie, from Abia State, picked me up and took me to his house. That was how the ministry started about 22 years ago.