Many Nigerians surged at him as he stepped out of the arrival hall of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos, accompanied by Senator Helen Esuene, her daughter, Mrs. Eme Udom and Rev. Israel N. Israel, the man many know as his anchor in Nigeria.
Israel lives in and runs a church called Glorious Covenant Church in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. It was through this small congregation in the Niger Delta that controversial Kenyan preacher David Owuor who goes by the title ‘prophet’ crept into Nigeria; paying uncelebrated visits in 2011 and 2012.
“God bless you,” he spoke softly and motioned in that famed manner of revered religious personalities as he received a bouquet of flowers from a little girl.
These persons rushing forward to have Owuor lay hands on and pray for them had previously listened as he fielded questions from a small party of journalists. Hitherto, Owuor’s mat of heavy, tangled beard reaching down to his chest masked his identity. Was he an artiste? His features conveyed the image of a sage. His conversation with the journalists revealed his personality.
As he was gently urged by Esuene and Israel to approach the car conveying him to his hotel, a few security men joined the rush for Owuor’s touch. He looked at a middle-aged man and insisted that he remove the rosary on his neck before he could touch him.
It took four years to plan what was supposed to be a heroic return to Nigeria, a country which is in Owuor strategic scheme. His desire to make a lasting impression could be discerned from his insistence that his coming must be organised
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