If we call this one another wonder of the century in Nigeria, we wouldn't be far from the truth. A Catholic nun in a remote Enugu village bleeds mysteriously on her forehead, palms, eyes and feet like the re-enactment of the passion of Jesus Christ during crucifixion by the Jews.
She also receives revelations about many hidden things thereby unearthing and destroying several charms believed to have been used to chain the destinies of men.
On Holy Thursday, few days to Easter Sunday of 2012, the reporter embarked on a tortuous 12-hour journey to Umuagbedo Agu, Amachalla community in Nsukka, Enugu State.
In a local primary school in the community, the Last Supper mass, according to Roman Catholic tradition, was in progress. Time was 10:30 pm and a sea of heads covered the entire field. A woman with blue wrapper tied round the waist was discussing with a lady, telling her that she was already noticing signs and was afraid that if the priest did not end the mass before midnight, the passion may meet her inside the school field.
The officiating priest, identified as Fr. Ekwueme, finished the Eucharistic consecration and Sister Martina joined him in sharing the Holy Communion. There were so many people at the mass and sharing the communion lasted long. At a time, Sister Martina became restless and stopped.
The mass dragged on till about 11:59 pm. Suddenly the sister shouted in pain and beckoned on her assistant, Eucharia, to come and hold her hands. Sister Martina's two hands had suddenly ruptured through the skin on the back of her palms and she started bleeding immediately. It looked exactly as if nails had suddenly and pierced through the two hands, leaving a gaping hole that bled leaving her reeling in pain.
In the twinkle of an eye, she ran to her house some metres away from the venue of the mass, causing a stir. Those who noticed the uproar also ran after her to occupy vantage positions for the event of the midnight.
This reporter joined the running crowd and ended up in one of the rooms of a four-bedroom bungalow she occupies. It was later realized that the room serves as her chapel where the priests working at Holy Cross Parish, Ikpamodo, the mother parish of Amachalla Station, have already established for her the monstrance containing the blessed Eucharist for perpetual adoration.
On reaching the room, the crowd surged forward, but the local security provided by Men of Order and Discipline Movement (MOD), a paramilitary security of the Catholic Church, controlled the situation.
Sister Martina went into deep agonizing pain, shouting for help as the blood continued to ooze out. A medical doctor, Sylvanus Nnadi, came in handy. The doctor tore a bandage and soaked the bleeding hands and legs with it and tied them to control the bleeding.
Suddenly, an unusual aura and aroma pervaded the entire room. The blood had begun to smell like red wine used in Eucharistic mass by Catholics. By this time, Fr. Ekwueme had concluded the mass in the primary school and with other worshippers trooped to Sister Martina's compound. Fr. Ekwueme was also joined by Fr. Aaron Okogu and Fr. Samson.
Sister Martina, who was already lying on the rugged floor, began to bleed again from her forehead. Like a replica of the Mel Gibson film, The Passion of Christ, she began to manifest strange acts that baffled everybody. She moaned in great pains, as if an invisible hand was driving a crown of thorns down on her head.
At a stage, she began prophetic prayer. In a state of complete loss of her surroundings, she prayed for priests for continuous life of chastity. She also prayed for the sick, saying there was angelic healing going on. She said God was angry over the widespread of abortion in the world today. She mentioned the name of a small child and her mother, Perpmario Ebere, who was among the crowd and requested that they should be allowed to come inside the room to see her. She also requested to be given the Holy Communun.
A priest gave her one piece of host, but surprisingly, when she opened her mouth again, the white communiun was mixed with blood. Her white apparel had been soaked with blood by now and at a time she momentarily passed out. She also gave several messages about Nigeria, the church, leaders of the community, and plans by occult people to harm the children of God, among others. The drama continued amidst prayer and singing by the large crowd outside the compound and adjoining houses till the early morning hours when people began to disperse.
One week later, this reporter visited Sister Martina who was hale and hearty attending to guests. After introduction, she said: "Oh, whatever happens during the passion time is beyond me. It is a divine encounter and I cannot explain what I did then. Besides, I don't talk to the press."
However, for the past one year and three months, Sunday Sun had been following the life, person and activities of Sister Martina. During the holy week of last Easter, precisely the Holy Thursday preceding the Good Friday, the scenario was almost the same, if not more severe. The passion was also witnessed by three Catholic priests and about four reverend sisters from another convent.
This time, Sister Martina charged Ovoko women in Igbo-Eze South Local Government Area of Enugu State, who were having challenges of faith in their community to fast and pray. She told the women that they will emerge victorious in a court case coming up the following day, which eventually came to pass.
Last week, Sunday Sun visited Sister Martina's place again. She vehemently refused to talk, but one of her assistants intervened thus: "Press man, you have bothered sister for so long and you should realize she is not seeking publicity. She can't talk to you, but at least I authorize you now to write what you see provided there is no exaggeration and sensationalism in your report."
More strange happenings
Sunday Sun learnt that Sister Martina later left Port Harcourt and settled in a remote village in Enugu-Ezike, Enugu State, through divine direction. There, her gift manifested in several ways and she continued to do wonders.
Fr. Benjy and another brother, who pleaded anonymity, gave Sunday Sun insight on how she relocated.
"On the night of September 14, 1996, the Lord spoke to Sister Martina saying, 'You have finished the work I told you to do here. Pack now and go to another place where I will show you. There you have a lot of work to do for me.' The message was repeated again in 2007 with a specific instruction that the place she was going to settle was a strong hold where many people's destinies had been destroyed and tied down by evil forces."
Sister Martina first alighted at Obollo Afor and trekked many miles to Enugu-Ezike without asking questions. On divine direction, she settled at Umauagebedo Agu, Amachalla community, where she lived in a house already in ruins as a result of mysterious deaths. The house, a four-bedroom bungalow, had been deserted as many members of the household had all died except one man who was on the run for his safety and doing menial jobs in Onitsha, Anambra State.
Terror to demons
In the course of investigations, Sunday Sun gathered that Sister Martina soon settled down to work in the community and began to show signs and wonders under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Her prayers not only restored life in the deserted compound but the surviving young man who lived like a fugitive returned home, got married and his means of livelihood was revived.
Martina was to embark on several land cleansing prayers, both in the community and other places far and near. In some places, she mysteriously detected dangerous charms buried beneath the ground, which had been causing havoc to people. She not only exhumed those charms but destroy them liberating such families spiritually from the bondage of both seen and unseen evils.
At Inyi community, there was a time evil people held sway in the area. They killed women randomly, harvesting their vital body parts, which they allegedly sold to a syndicate in far way Abuja. The situation was so tense that even when members of the community knew those behind the atrocities, no one dared lift a finger against them for fear of being dealt with. Then, while the storm raged, no one dared walk alone at night in the community, but on getting information about the situation, Sister Martina decided to confront it headlong.
"She would storm the community around midnight, preaching the gospel of repentance to perpetrators of evil and also daring the hardened among them to challenge her. Sister Martina waged a relentless war against these evil men and with the grace of God she succeeded in running some of them out of town, some repented while others were arrested and prosecuted in Abuja. She rallied some women of the community who rose against such evil practices, marched in black attires alongside Umu Ada Igbo (Igbo maidens) in Enugu.
"Today, Inyi community is free from ritual killers and rapists. Not only that, she also succeeded in attracting a parish house with resident priests to the community, which helped in turning around the spiritual welfare of the once dreaded community," Anthony Ugwuanyi said in Nsukka."
The Sun
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