First of all, I want to sincerely appreciate @jerrybanfield for providing folks on steemit with this unique opportunity to share their experience of the miraculous with the rest of the world without fear of censure and the jaded unbelief of critics in popular mass media. I believe in your vision @jerrybanfield and I hope that my story will bless a soul in need of comfort and encouragement and also inspire others to continue to believe in the miraculous.
A picture of the car i boarded after the accident had occurred-June 26, 2013
I will attempt to present my story under the following headlines:
Femi Q travels to Bida
On the 24th of June 2013 little did I know that I would be undertaking a journey that would alter the course of my belief in the supernatural and the workings of an unseen power. I had just resumed as a program coordinator at my new job and I took leave from official work to go and visit my childhood friend and his newly wed wife (Timothy & Jemimah). The trip was meant to be brief and I was supposed to be back in Minna on the 26th of June 2013. I arrived Bida safely and quickly got settled in at my friends place.
My time with Timothy & Jemimah
The couple were excited to see me, and we all had fun relieving some fantastic childhood moments and experiences. I enjoyed the cooking of the new wife and spent the evenings with my friend taking some ice cold beer in some of the nicest cool spots in Bida town. I spent 2 nights with the newlyweds and I was set to depart for Minna on the morning of June 26th 2013.
Departing Bida
On that fateful morning, I woke up as is my custom and said my prayers; I declined breakfast and bid farewell to the couples. Timothy offered to take me to the bus park where I would board a commercial vehicle back to Minna. My first choice of bus parks was NSTA but then Timothy suggested that I should use the general bus park, as there would be no delay in takeoff for the trip. When we arrived at the general bus park, suddenly Jemimah felt uncomfortable about the park and suggested to both myself and her husband that we should go to another park. Stubbornly we both laughed off her suggestion and I decided to board a brand new looking Volkswagen Sharon car.
The Strange Speaking Voice at the motor park
Strangely I chose to sit in the front seat of the car, but the custom of the park is to have two persons sit in front and this makes it impossible for both persons to use the seat belt. I told the driver that I would pay the fare for the additional person that was to seat with me in the front seat, and he accepted. The vehicle was almost filled up and I decided to take my sit and immediately use the seat belt (please note that at the time I hated using seatbelts, but I felt a strange compulsion to use the belt even prior to take off).
Now I have not had any esoteric experience before this moment, but suddenly I heard a voice speak to me clearly “This car is marked for destruction!” I turned around sharply thinking it was another passenger speaking to me from behind, but lo and behold, the passengers were engaged in discussions with themselves in the local Nupe dialect. It was then I realized that it must have been a voice in my head. I responded to the voice by declaring “I cannot be aboard a vehicle that is marked for destruction!” At this point the driver had started the vehicle and we were taking off for the trip. As soon as the car approached the park gate to exit; the strange speaking voice, spoke to me clearly again, “This car is marked for destruction!” and just like the first time I gave the same response “I cannot be aboard a vehicle that is marked for destruction!”
We began our journey out of Bida, and as our vehicle approached the NSTA park that I originally wanted to use, the strange speaking voice spoke to me for the last time “This car is marked for destruction!”, I quickly responded by saying “I cannot be aboard a vehicle that is marked for destruction!” but at that moment I became afraid, I had a feeling that the vehicle may be truly ill-fated!
Immediately I began to pray and I asked God to spare my life and the lives of the remaining passengers in the vehicle. As soon as I finished praying, I began sleeping as is my custom when I embark on road trips.
10 mins away from Bida
We were just about 10 mins away from Bida and our driver was moving at 100km/h, when suddenly I woke up from sleep and a strange feeling of foreboding came upon me. While I was still feeling spooked, a goat appeared from the bushes on the other side of the road and began racing across the road directly facing our vehicle. In that moment the strange speaking voice said to me “what I warned you about is going to happen now!”, as though by magic, our driver chose to avoid hitting the goat by swerving to the other side of the highway. Unfortunately for us, the goat continued to run in the direction that the driver had swerved to, the driver suddenly lost control of the wheels and hit the goat.
My escape from Death
The next few seconds seemed like an eternity to me, everything happened swiftly and yet it was as though I was having an outer body experience! As soon as our vehicle hit the goat, the car twisted sideways and began to somersault in a sideways manner; in that moment, I felt my life was about to end, but strangely I felt compelled to start praying for my friends and family members and I asked God to spare them from the kind of terrible experience that I was passing through. The vehicle somersaulted three times, remained upside-down and began skidding towards a ravine. Then by some miraculous intervention, the car stopped by itself some centimeters to the mouth of the ravine. As soon as the car stopped, I was the first person to get out of the vehicle, I ran for my dear life because usually when cars somersault they oftentimes explode, but once again the miraculous intervention of God prevented the car from exploding and every one of the passengers came out alive.
Conclusion
How I survived the car crash, the mystery of the strange speaking voice, the prayers I made in intercession for myself and the passengers on board the ill-fated car, continue to amaze me till this day. This event made me to become a firm believer in the supernatural and the workings of an unseen power in the daily affairs of man!