Photo: Why I Sleep And Wake Up In Coffins- Lagos Preacher

Mere sighting a coffin instils fear in many mortals. But for
Prophet Pa Samuel Olawale ( a.k.a Kogberegbe) it has no meaning as he sleeps in
the coffin and in the grave preaching the gospel.  The Nation reports.

Conspicuously displayed on this Mountain of Prayer is a big
van with the inscription, ‘The Holy Michael Church of The Lord ( Aladura)
Cherubim and Seraphim ,  Preacher  Prophet S.O Olawale  (a.ka.Kogberegbe).” In the  said vehicle is a  big white-creamy  painted coffin covered with a black cloth
having the  following words ‘THIS IS THE
END OF YOUR LIFE AND YOUR POST’  inscribed
on it, all in capital letters!

Fear will normally envelope most people seeing for the first
time a coffin drap*d with black cloth and a grave dug  by the altar . This is, however, a familiar
sight to the congregation of this church. They have grown used to it.

What is the connection between an empty coffin and the
church? Why should there be a grave by the altar? These are questions begging
for answer.

Speaking to The Nation on why he keeps both strange and
curious objects, the spiritual leader and founder, Pa Samuel Olawale, who is in
his 80s, declared  ” Yes, it is true that
I have a coffin covered with a black cloth in the church , it is in a big van
.Not only this, I have a big hole dug  by
the altar. You can go and see it, take the picture .But for the grave or the
hole, it is by the altar. And next  time,
I will open it for you while I am  there
.The two strange objects are pregnant 
with meanings .I have reasons why I am keeping them there.”

While  preachers ,
evangelists and men of God go out preaching with the Holy Bible,  asking sinners to repent , Pa Samuel  Olawale ( a.k.a Kogberegbe) goes out not only
with the Holy Bible but  always ‘armed’
with an empty coffin , a bell in his hand, 
preaching to sinners to repent and come to God.

He said:  ” Yes it is
true that I am carrying the coffin about while preaching and what I am trying
to point out is that  no matter how
wealthy you are  you will not leave this
world  with these money , it all ends
here .You will not go  into the grave
with your wealth or  with money , be you
a  civil servant who stole money ,  be you an armed robber, be you a landlord or
a caretaker, your money and wealth ends 
here the moment you are dead.”

He continued: “Any time I go out, I would at times sleep in
the coffin, telling everybody that that is how we will end .Yes, we should
remember this. If you are buried with expensive coffin, clothes and
jewelleries,  all will be stolen from you
in the night and your carcass  will be
left .To me, life has no meaning until we come to God .Things are going wrong
in this world and we should mend our ways.”

Kogberegbe added: “Yes, I even sleep there (in the coffin
and the grave) at times too, to let us know that we will all end up in the
grave!”

Asked whether people 
read  different  meanings to it , he replied: “Oh no, no, they
all know that we are preaching the word of God .It is just to let us all know
that there is nothing in this life. This is an ephemeral world, the grave is
for prayer and we open it every year while praying on the mountain.”

On what it is in the grave, the old man said, “Nothing , it
is empty , nothing .”

When this reporter requested to see the coffin and the
grave, the old man did not hesitate as he called one of his disciples, Joshua
Samuel, to take him there.

Road to the mountain

The road to the church’s mountain is about three kilometres
from the residence. It is along Ikotun/Ejigbo Road. The big church is located
in a compound on the expansive mountain.

On the mountain is also a vehicle, and inside it is an
object covered with a black cloth. The reporter asked the guide, Samue,l to open
it.  The guide first of all screamed,
“Holy Jah!,” and prayed. He then removed the cover for this reporter to see the
cream – coloured coffin with the words: ‘THIS IS THE END OF YOUR LIFE AND YOUR
POST’ inscribed on it. And after the reporter had taken some shots of
photographs, the guide again thanked Jah for His mercies and then covered it
again.

According to the guide, Kogberegbe is a bold man who is a
man of God worshipping God Almighty. He said while evangelising with the bus,
they carry the coffin about and would stop once in a while to bring out the
coffin. In his words, “We carry the coffin from the vehicle; it is normal
coffin .We are about four people who carry it while I would be in my church
warrior soutane dress.”

Asked to comment on the motive behind it, he said: “Baba is
trying to show the world that at the end of everybody in this  world, 
irrespective of his status, whether you are rich or poor , whether you
are a witch or wizard, whether you have children or childless,  whether you are a tenant or landlord,  this is how and where we will all end .Baba
would with a bell in his hand sleep in the coffin in the public and be shouting
on top of his voice to everybody to come and see  how everybody would end. It is a big lesson
for us all, and it is very interesting. It is time we should all change from
our bad behaviours and turn to Christ”

Encounters with the evil spirit

Kogberegbe also spoke to this reporter about his encounters
with the evil spirit. He said “I remember that we used to trek from Somolu to
this mountain several years ago. We faced many challenges. I can remember when
on a midnight as myself and two kids were going to the mountain, we got to the
base of an Araba tree ( mighty tree),  we
saw a strange light that beckoned at us from the tree top and we heard the
voice that said ‘This  stupid boy (
Kogberegbe ) has come to disturb us again.’ But trust my God, nothing happened
to me. I prayed and the tree got dried up .It is God’s work .The evil spirit
attempted to stop me from worshipping God , but no evil spirit had the power.
Again, at Ojuwoye, they (evil spirits) fought us, and again I commanded the
tree to dry up and it happened. It is the work of God. Only God knows what
havoc the tree could have caused. You know a man with swollen scrotum cannot be
a goalkeeper. And it is God’s work, not of mine.”

Who is Kogberegbe?

Call him a stubborn agitator. Label him a non conformist; he
is a different person entirely from many other preachers. No wonder he is
nicknamed Kogberegbe (A no nonsense man). He said “My name is Samuel Olawale.
When God called me, people started calling me Kogberegbe, meaning a man who
does not tolerate nonsense.”

He speaks with authority, and his congregants listen with
rapt attention. In his living room, he conducts services and counsels those who
come for counselling and prays for them too. There are portraits of Jesus
Christ and of some Saints hung on the walls. In his living room are big rubber
drums of water which he prays on to become ‘holy water’ and this he gives to
people to heal them of their ailments.

He prays for people who come to him for prayer. His voice is
heard as he prays. People of all status mill around him for prayer. Whenever he
is praised that his prayer works, he would tell you that it is not his handwork
but God’s.

Immediately he was told that he had a visitor from the
press, he humbly left the congregation to attend to this reporter. He is loved
for his humility, passion for mankind. One thing he is noted for is that he
does not tolerate nonsense in his church. In fact, he is treated as a king as
his followers and other people kneel down to talk to him.

A disciplinarian to the core, in the presence of this
reporter, Kogberegbe acted out his name as he scolded one of his followers for
removing his soutane and going to another place when the service was still on.
He admonished him for not respecting God.

Genesis of his life

He told The Nation that: “I have been in evangelisation
since 1957 when I was called and started it .It is God that called me. I was
once a police officer but that was a long time ago .If God wanted to call you ,
he will  do so  immediately and you will not steal, will not
take another man’s wife, will not be dubious. You must not tell lies because
you want to be rich. Many become prophets because of money. Most of you who are
practicing journalism are fraudsters. People are afraid to walk in the night.
Many of you reporters are fake and go about taking pictures, interviewing
people about and collecting money.”

He spoke about the Boko Haram: “Now there is the problem of
Boko Haram, and you don’t know those praying for the country. Many of the
prophets are doing that silently. Those pastors and prophets using human blood
for many things are devilish and will go to hell fire. But God knows the
truthful ones. Well, only God knows who is worshiping Him. Today, the prophets
and pastors are doing what they like. But I love the Catholic, who suffer a lot
and they are doing well.  The Pentecostal
Church is trying their best too.”

But he added, “He (God) said it is not those who called me
God, God that will come to His Kingdom. It is not all of us prophets, pastors,
men of God that would go to heaven’.