By Henry Harvestman
ABUJA-BASED preacher and founder of Global Revival of Holiness Ministry, Bro. Michael Sambo Thomas, has recounted what he described as a miraculous escape from six armed Boko Haram terrorists in a forest.
According to his testimony, Sambo was travelling to Kebbi State for a preaching engagement after his flights were cancelled twice, prompting him to opt for road transportation because of the urgency of the programme.
He said he boarded a vehicle from the SUBA Expressway area, close to Abuja, while attempting to secure transport for the night journey.
Sambo recounted that while he was at the motor park, a man approached him, greeted him and asked whether he was Michael Sambo. He said he ignored the man.
According to his account, he later became unconscious while travelling with other passengers and had a sensation that he had been moved from one vehicle to another.
When he regained consciousness, Sambo said he found himself in a thick forest surrounded by six heavily armed men carrying AK-47 rifles.
He said the men identified themselves as Boko Haram members and told him they had been monitoring and trailing his movements for years.
“They ordered me to say my last prayer because they were about to kill me,” he recounted.
Sambo said that at that moment, a bright light suddenly appeared over the group, causing the armed men to fall to the ground.
Seeing an opportunity to escape, he said he began running through the forest in search of a way out.
He further testified that he encountered individuals whom he understood to be angels. According to him, they introduced themselves, sang hymns with him and eventually escorted him out of the forest towards a road.
On reaching the road, he said a vehicle stopped and picked him up.
According to Sambo, the driver asked him whether he knew him. When he replied that he did not, the driver allegedly said: “I am Michael. I was sent to rescue you.”
He said the man also told him he could not enter the city on foot because, in his words, “if I set foot in this city, it would be destroyed”.
The driver eventually stopped at a particular location and asked Sambo to get down from the vehicle.
Sambo said the man instructed him to check his bag, where he found his phones, and contact his pastor.
He recounted that after getting out of the vehicle, it appeared to him as though he had suddenly awakened from a dream. He said he found himself sitting beside a gutter with his bag.
Initially confused, Sambo said he gradually remembered that he had been travelling to Kebbi for a preaching programme and had been abducted.
He further alleged that the terrorists had taken his bag and phones and used his phone to contact his pastor. However, he said the items were eventually returned to him following what he described as a miraculous encounter.
Sambo said he believed God had intervened to deliver him from what could have been a deadly situation.
He cited Psalm 91:11 in reflecting on his experience: “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”
Bro. Michael Sambo Thomas is the founder of Global Revival of Holiness Ministry, Abuja.
