National Liberian
newspaper, ‘The New Republic’ has recounted an uncanny story of how one of
Liberia’s most notorious drug lords by the name of Emmanuel Fahnbulleh gave up
his criminal activities after praying with Nigeria’s Prophet T.B. Joshua on
Christian station Emmanuel TV.
Ironically, it was a
Nigerian who introduced him to the shady business 18 years ago, just as it was
a Nigerian who was used by God to rescue him.
Here is the full report:
In a rather unruffled and undisturbed state of
mind, Emmanuel Fahnbulleh divulged his long-running obsession with being one of
Liberia's most dangerous and feared drug dealers, distributors and users.
Fahnbulleh, who said he is now converted, has been
in the field of selling drugs of all sorts to Liberians for eighteen years
before God arrested and transformed him. His case is similar to that of Saul
who was arrested on the road to Damascus and transformed to an abiding believer
of the Lord.
Yesterday, Fahnbulleh told Power TV's phone-in talk
show how bad he was during his drug-dealing spree, bragging that he was
matchless in his field.
But as conscience is said to be a judge of every
man, so the converted drug dealer realised his errors and offered a heartfelt
apology to the nation and those who might have been affected in one way or the
other by his drug dealing prowess.
"I want to first of all
in this public manner apologize to the nation, my brothers and sisters out
there who my drug deals might have affected in any way, to go against one
another in the homes. I have been one of the major, major, major contributors
of that problem," he said in a very unassuming
manner.
Fahnbulleh, who provided historical background
about how he got baptised into drug dealing, said it was a Nigerian national
who wooed and changed him into one of Liberia's most feared dealers.
"It all started in
1996, just before the April 6 crisis, when I came across my own satan. This
Nigerian fellow I met that day was my own of encounter with the devil, because
he was like my devil," he said, while at the same
time distancing himself from having any physical contact or interaction with
the devil.
He said he called the Nigerian 'devil' because his
intervention in his life thwarted his academic brightness as an upcoming
student in the community. "When this guy came in the community, he came
across me and called me to come. He said to me, 'You are a smart kid; you can
push this thing'. He gave me the first 10 kilograms of cocaine. At that time,
my brother, you could not sell 5 grams of cocaine in Liberia a day because it
was not easy," Fahnbulleh divulged.
In spite of the roughness and hardness of the
market at the time for reasons he did not say, he noted that he was able to
distribute at least 60 grams of cocaine every day.
Through the grace of God, the self-proclaimed drug
pusher explained he is now a Christian and worshipping with the Trinity Healing
Temple of Jesus Christ, which is led by Mother Esther B. Davies.
Fahnbulleh, who also explained how his conversion
came about, said, "It was around the month of April, about the 23rd,
24th this year when one of my friends came by and said to me, 'Emma, why can't
you watch this TV station of Pastor T.B. Joshua (Emmanuel TV)? You might get
something from there."
In a rather rushed fashion, he said he tuned to the
TV station and the first thing he saw was the man of God praying for viewers.
He heard T.B. Joshua say, "I command whatever that is in you that is not
of God to come out right now!"
At that moment, Fahnbulleh said his entire life
dramatically changed. "I could not do anything; I did not know what I
was doing at that moment."
Right away, he explained further, he was touched to
give back all the illegal drugs in his possession, including a huge pack of
cocaine worth US$1,500. "I called everybody to come for their things; I
told them I did not want money from them again because I did not want to have
anything to do with drugs," he said.
Fahnbulleh has now joined the campaign to make
Liberia a drug-free nation, in consonance with the drug law of the Republic of
Liberia.