Prophetess who lost her husband and two children in the Rivers state New Year day massacre speaks, says she warned her family of impending doom

While Nigerians were welcoming the New Year on January 1st 2018, yet-to-be identified gunmen at about 12.20am, stormed Omoku community in Rivers state and began to shoot sporadically, killing 20 persons. Till today, no one knows the motive behind the attack.
One of those left to morun the dead victims is Prophetess Comfort Ordu pictured left, who lost her husband, 51 year old Austin Ordu, an engineer, and her two children, Wisom, 15 and Precious, 14, in the attack.

In an interview with The Nation, the clergywoman said while they were having their family prayer to
usher themselves into the New Year, she had a vision about a looming danger.

''I am a prophetess. I have a healing ministry where the sick, and those that are having issues with pregnancy and others with different needs come for God’s help and their problems are solved. On that fateful day, December 31, 2017, I gathered the members of my family and prayed with them. After the prayers, which was past midnight, I announced to everybody not to leave the gate that night because there was danger looming in the air. Then I went to bed.
“At about 2 am, I discovered that two of my children, a boy and a girl, were not in the house. I understood they had gone out to a place where other youths had organised a carnival on the street. I requested that someone should go there and bring them back to the house, but I was told that their father had gone to look for them. Suddenly, I noticed that one of my sons and my nephew who lives with us ran into the house. Then some persons, six in number, who were dressed in black clothes and black fez cap, walked into the house, saying that government had sent them to come to the house. I quickly dodged and hid myself inside the house, but I overheard everything that they said.
“My cousin who was with us stopped them at the sitting room and interrogated them. She asked who they were and why they were chasing the children. After a moment, I saw them walk out of the house. They probably noticed that there was no other person in the house or they could not find the actual person they were looking for. As they were leaving the gate, they met a boy named Saviour, who was my deceased son’s friend. He had come to invite his friend so they could go to the carnival together. They shot and killed him instantly. While these were happening, I did not know that they had already met and killed my husband, our two children and a friend to my late daughter while they were coming back from the venue of the carnival.”

Asked if the people were killed on their way from the crossover service of that night, she said:

“No. My husband had gone to the venue of the carnival just along our street in the company of our gateman, Desmond, an indigene of Plateau State, to look for the children so that he could bring them back. On their way back home, close to our gate, they met the gunmen who shot and killed them instantly. But Desmond had not died when we met them, although he was in a critical condition. He was rushed to the hospital where he was in coma for two days. It was on the third day that he came out of coma and could mutter some words. We are trusting the Lord that he will recover fully.”

Asked if the family had issues with anyone, the traumatised mum said she wasn't aware of any

“We are not involved in politics and we are not in any cult group. I am not in any kind of association. My sole job is to pray for people to get them out of their problems and needs. That is what I am committed to.”

Speaking further, she said:

“As a prophetess, I received the clue of looming danger in the land since early this year, and I have been telling those that come to my ministry, family members and any other person that cared to listen that the just past year was not going to be easy and that the last days of the year was going to be more dangerous. I said that anyone who escaped the secret plans of the devil and its cohorts in the land (Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA), should be grateful to God, and that everyone should be careful and prayerful to avert the plans. I also informed them that secret and silent killers had been paid and they had sneaked into the land. That was why I warned my family members to remain indoor after the crossover prayers so that the evil would completely pass over us. But children, being what they are, did not listen. They were lured outside by the sound of music and the voices and drums playing out from the carnival venue.”

The state government has announced a N200 million reward for information that would lead to the arrest of the perpetrators. 

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