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| Pastor: Mathew Oluwanifemi- Shina Rambo |
Some years back; I was invited to a church crusade where Pastor Mathew Oluwanifemi formerly known as Shina Rambo was ministering. He gave this exclusive confession about his notorious and diabolic
arm-robbing scheme. It was unveiled in an open ground revival in the ancient city of
Ibadan, right in front of me, on stage, was Evangelist Mathew Oluwanifemi.
The once feared Shina Rambo, clad in a
loose fitting shirt, black trouser and a pair of leather sandals with a black
Holy Bible in his hands. A gigantic dark skinned and bald headed man still had
those fiery looks and stealth movement. I was more transfixed than focused, God is indeed is
awesome. Honestly, i have never behold anyone whom God cannot change, forgives or transformed.
Likewise, i have never behold any iota of sin which the blood of Jesus Christ can't wash away. The death of Jesus Christ at the Cross of Calvary is indeed a new regime and era of redemption for humanity. The true life confession of Pastor; Mathew Oluwanifemi formerly known as Shina Rambo is heart miss-feeling among the people. It sound unbelievable, yet with God all things are possible.
This confession is remarkable because it portrayed the unprofitable luxuries vanities of life. Ecclesiastes 1;2-3 "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? I was stunt as the most dreaded Shina Rambo picked the offering bag after his ministration and confession, raised it to the congregation prayed and
asked who had anything to give to God.
At first I was reluctant, my mind was occupied
and out of an innate compulsion, sheer curiosity I stood up, dipped my hand in
my pocket walked towards him briskly and calculatedly brought out my offering,
dropped it into the basket, and looked deep into his eyes. I had too many things to ask him, there were too many
questions unanswered.
He looked back at me and spoke in Yoruba, saying “God bless you my brother; we know your type when we see them” The
congregation broke into a mild giggle,
as all eyes were on me as I went back to my
seat, with a lot of things on my mind and the red light on my midget still blinking, in the breast pocket of my jacket.
A Brief History Of Shina Rambo
The Most Notorious Armed Robber In Nigerian History Shina
Rambo is a former bandit who terrorized South-West Nigeria in the 1990s. After serving
jail-time for his crimes, he was converted by late Prophet T.O Obadare, and he later
becomes an evangelical Pastor. He is presently known as Pastor Mathew
Oluwanifemi.
However, the name Shina Rambo was a name that sent shivers
down the spine of people who lived in the South West of Nigeria and even
outside Nigeria, like Benin Republic and neighborhood, in the 1990s. He was a hardened criminal, a terror and killer, one whom
men of the security agencies will never forget in haste. A man mountain,
towering about 6 ft 5 inches, well built dark skinned and sweltering eyes.
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| Old Shina Rambo |
He
carried out his operations, like a movie, in the broad day light with sophisticated
weapons and bullet belts and explosives strapped roundabout him. He specialized in robbing exotic cars on highways and banks.
Nothing could stop him, not even security operatives. He was totally
invincible. He was born in the year 1958 to a military man who was a bad egg in
the service. His father was from Abeokuta in Ogun state, but his mother was a native
of Sabongida–Ora in Edo state.
His father had over 18 wives, as was the norm for soldiers
to impregnate virtually every woman they met where they were posted to. His
father used his military influence to rob innocent citizens, and always brought
huge amount of money home. This used to entice little Shina.
He recalls, “I remembered when he was about 7 years old, the
father came home with a lot of blood-stained foreign currencies. They (the
father and colleagues) used something like a woman’s scarf to wipe the notes
clean. Then I asked him, is this an animal’s blood, or human blood? But he
wouldn’t answer me. They were just drinking, smoking, and merry making.
Introduction To Crime.
Even without him consenting or formally giving his
permission, Shina Rambo was already shown the pathway into the underworld by
his father. As a child, the father would sit in front of him, to dismantle and
assemble all sorts of weapons and then polishing them in preparation for an
operation. It was through this means he got his expertise in handling of guns.
This went on for so long till one day, little Shina, entered
into his father’s room while he had stepped into the toilet, and saw a
dismembered gun on the floor. He sat down in front of it, and bit by bit, he
had assembled it effortlessly in no time at all. His father came out of the
toilet, and saw his son, with a loaded gun in his hands.
Shina flashed back and said, “That day my father was so
disappointed, that he wanted to kill me, he grabbed the gun from my hand and
shot straight at me, but I miraculously escaped out of the room. Then he waited
for me to be less alert at night he came to my room with a machete and tried to
behead me, but once again, I escaped, but the machete caught my left leg. (Rolled up his trouser to show us the large
scar that made everyone sighed in pity).
It cut me so deep I thought I was never going to walk again.
That day I knew I had graduated, all that was left was to pull the trigger, and
I was so eager. Shina Rambo became so notorious in no time, and was Hell bent
on succeeding in his career as an armed robber, that he went through any length
to secure spiritual powers for fortification.
To the extent of pounding over 27 live new born babies in
the mortar with a pestle, cutting off about 100 human tongues and cooking them
to eat, visiting the spiritual river called river of life in Ogoja, Cross
Rivers State and also living in an Iroko tree for days, and sleeping in the
cemetery.
For a personal guard, he was given a spiritual wife who
always followed him for any operation, she dressed like a Muslim- burka and
hijab. People thought she was human but she was a spirit that was why they
never saw her face. He said she was his personal driver that she could drive
from Nigeria to Cotonou, in the speed of light.
Hear him. ”I was involved in so many rituals that I can’t
start naming them now. I was so powerful; I went underground inside trees that
looked like a city with a lot of beautiful houses inside the tree. I had my own
too; I went into a river called River of life in Ogoja, where a lot of
politicians and wealthy men used to come. I had several personalities, I could change
my form whenever I wanted to, that’s why the police were busy killing innocent
people, and thought they were killing Shina Rambo.
The 9 herbalists that gave me that power, I became stronger
than them. One day I went to their shrines, and killed all of them so that they
don’t reveal my secrets. I had too many powers; my spiritual wife could drive
any car in this world or out of it, no police vehicle, or anyone for that
matter, could ever chase and catch me during an operation. She was out of this
world, and when she had completed her operation, they took her away from me.
I could give anything to get powers, and the elders knew, so
they also gave me anything I wanted. I once beheaded hundred men, and gave them
the heads fresh, they were so happy with me that they made me invincible. No
matter the kind of bullet you shot at me, it was just like pure water on my
body.
I could give anything to get power, but of all the things I
did to get power, the one that still breaks my heart the most, is sleeping with
my mother. My father is dead now, but my mother is still alive, and she lives
with me she is 85 years old. Whenever I set my eyes on her, I just start
crying. I can`t bear it.
Hatred For The Police
Like every other stone-hearted robber, Shina Rambo had
nothing but hate for security personnel. He would barge into police stations in
broad daylight and kill every policeman on sight. Cops at check points were not
left out of his fury, as he would open fire on every policeman on duty. He
didn’t like the police at all, and was never afraid of them; he operated in
broad day light armed to the teeth looking like Johny Rambo, in the popular
Sylvester Stallone movie, “First Blood”.
As a way to show his superiority against the police, he once
robbed 40 exotic cars in one day and drove all of them in a convoy, from Lagos
to Cotonou, unstopped. He was powerful; he was wealthy, and impenetrable. He
was a tin god, apparently belched from the very arroyo hell, we all dreaded
him. He had a wife and three children, but he lost all of them in one day
during a bloody police raid whilst he was away on operation.
Family Demise
Shina Rambo had a wife and three children but he lost all of
them in one day during a bloody police raid whilst he was away on operation.
His wife was said to be his stabilizing factor. His life changed after her
demise. He says “my wife was everything to me, I was forbidden by the elders to
sleep with any other woman apart from her.
I could gather about 50 women around me in a hotel, and they
will just be playing with me. We would smoke, drink, and sniff cocaine. I will
give them money but I will never sleep with them. I will go back home to my
wife and sleep with her. That was why the police never caught me. She knew my
job, she knew what I was. I never left them alone at night. I operated in the
day time and go back home to my family at night.
I had everything, I was very wealthy, I once spent 50 million
naira in a day. I did it a lot, there was one day that we were coming from an
operation and it seemed as if my powers were going to fail me. The police and
the army were almost closing in on us, so we had to drive into a crowd and
threw millions of naira in the air. There was commotion, everybody was busy picking
naira notes even the police until we escaped.
I was too rich, but anything the devil gives you never
lasts. He will collect more from you; it’s only the devil that will give you
Fila, (cap) and asks for Iro and Buba. (Wrapper and top). I lost everything,
all the money, my family; I was so powerful the police couldn’t catch me but I
lost it all. I had to surrender myself to the police, and I was arrested and
jailed for 11 years.
Conversion To
Christianity
When I was serving my jail term in Agodi prisons Ibadan, Late Prophet T.O Obadare, came visiting and having been encouraged several times by
the Christian brothers and sisters in the prison to give my life to Christ.
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| Prophet T.O Obadare |
He prayed for me and converted me and changed my name to
Oluwanifemi, and it was heartwarming and so miraculous. The next day I woke up
and started speaking in tongues. It was during the time of Former President
Olusegun Obasanjo, that we were granted freedom.
Release From Custody
After serving in a Federal Prison, Shina Rambo was granted
freedom by the then President of the country; Olusegun Obasanjo. Since then, he
has moved on to become and evangelist and a worker in God’s vineyard. Truly, he’s graciously opportune by God to
survive the life of crime and diabolic indulgence.
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| Interview with Pastor: Mathew-Shina Rambo |
An Interview With
Shina Rambo
The Confession of an ex-notorious arm robber Shina Rambo was heart pricking. Shina Rambo was a household name in the world of crime -
fearful, ruthless, and dangerous and a terror in the society. The former
kingpin and a serpent to security agencies is now a professed Evangelist and
maverick preacher who is as meek as a dove. In this encounter with an interview crew,
he poured out his mind on how he tormented Lagosians, the police and how he
snatched 42 exotic cars in a day and how he remained invisible for the police
dragnet.
What’s Your
Background And Where Are You Actually From?
It is true that people are always confused about where l comes
from. Actually my father came from Abeokuta in Ogun State, but I from
Sanbogida-Ora in Edo State. That is where my mother came from and where l lived
all my early life.
How Did You Acquire
The Name Shina Rambo?
There is a saying in Yoruba that a child acquires any name
that suits him when he was not in his place of birth. That was the appellation
l was given in those days when l ventured into the world of crime. The name
that was given to me at birth was Oluwa-gbenga, Oluwashina, Abidemi and Omokenwa,
meaning a child is the one that takes care of the home.
The meaning of Shina Rambo stands for a team or a group of
deadly squad with a mission. I was the Rambo. Therefore, the merging of Shina
with Rambo is just like any organization like co-operative society which has
each name to identify their group, yet they belong to the same co-operative
society.
To those people who thought that l came from Cotonou,
Republic of Benin, or Sabongida- Ora, they are all correct because wherever you
are living or place you are used to, that is your home. Though my father is
from Abeokuta, many people did not know me there because apart from Cotonou
where my operating business took me, l lived my adolescent life in Edo State,
the place of my mother.
At What Point In Your
Life Did You Veer Into Crime?
Everything comes down to the lackadaisical attitude of my
parents in taking adequate care of my need when l was growing up. My father was
a military man who married virtually everywhere he was posted to in his career;
this gave him the opportunity to have many wives.
One of the early memories l
could recollect which l will never forget in my life was that my father was the
first person to cut me with a cutlass. That is why l said that the nonchalant
attitude of my parents dragged me into the world of crime.
Was That Actually
What Led You Into Crime?
I will say that the moment a child lacks parental care, love
and attention; such a child is being nursed towards crime. In my own case it
was a combination of many things that led me to the world of crime. Poor and
not caring family, later my business was almost grinded when some of my goods
were confiscated.
Along the line, my younger brother was also killed; in the
mission of avenging, l was gradually involved in crime and before l knew it l
wanted to excel in it. What we called the real Shina Rambo lives inside.
Your name created
tremor among people in society, the security operatives inclusive, how did you
get such power?
If a child knows how to wash his hand well, definitely he
will eat with the elders. I know how to appease the elders, therefore anything
l need from them l usually get it. Now that l am in Christ, l know better. The
fact is if you decide to eat with the devil, make sure you do it to a logical
conclusion and if you want to follow Christ, let him be your sole companion in
anything that you are doing.
I got power in the world of devil, and l followed it to a
logical conclusion. In the world of the devil, police or any security has
nothing to do with us, as a daredevil robber then. There are certain things which
an armed robber should have.
- The first is what you call afoola. We used many human
beings to do this native medicine, including a fetus in his mother’s womb.
- The second is ikiya (boldness). This will give you the
audacity and effrontery to do anything at any time no matter how dangerous the
venture is.
- The third one is that anybody who wants to venture into
high level robbery must be ready to squeeze all the water inside his eye and use
it for a powerful medicine, so that there is nothing that would happen that
such a person will cry again, no matter how devastating or big such a calamity
is.
I searched for power
from the demons of various types, inside the most powerful water called water
of the world at a town called Ogoja in cross rivers state. All leaders of the
world who are actually looking for power used to go inside this water. At that
point when I was on operation l will put on the appearance of different types
of people to the extent that it was difficult for anybody to identify my real
being.
There is no amount of picture that you took that you will
get a clear view. That was why when they said that, ‘Oh; they have killed Shina Rambo,’ but it was another person that they
would kill instead. From that place, l went to Oke Idanre and later Enugu
and Abeokuta to look for power that can make me to be invisible at will.
I was able to have a magical power that allowed me to look
differently in eight places. At Abeokuta, the nine herbalists that did the
medicine for me were killed so that one day they will not reveal the secret
behind the medicine to any mortal. There is a place in Oyo State called Fiditi;
lawyers also go there to look for power.
Along the line l entered into different cults that are very
powerful. There they have to change my body because l was buried alive for
seven days in the burial ground and my soul was kept in a small coffin. After
the seventh day, l became powerful and more dangerous, too hot to be handled by
anybody. Again l went inside the Iroko tree to seek for power. In
fact, you will not believe the number of houses that you will find inside the Iroko
tree. It’s a whole town inside the tree.
When you get there, you are going to
chant some incantations and the door will open, you will see various types of
people engaging in activities like selling, eating, having meeting and doing
all sorts of things done in the physical world. When l went there, we entered through the ninth door before
we entered the town.
I was able to do this because l was able to produce for
the elders what they needed, so they were ready to give me what l wanted and
ready to take me to wherever it would be possible for me to get what l wanted.
There was a time l was taken to a burial place with 15 heads to go and to
collect some charms from the spirit. From there, l was fortified to the extent
that there is no bullet that could enter my body, it will just be like pure
water.
What Is Your
Relationship With The Police?
Normally we and the police are supposed to be enemies, but
unfortunately a lot of them are our friends. There are some policemen who are
mere saboteurs; they love money more than the job. Such police officers are
mole in the force because they sell vital information to robbers and most of
the time turned their back when their “friends” are on the road.
At this point in time, it is people like us who could assist
government to nab criminals because l knows their antics and modus operandi.
Not all of police are bad, but there are some moles among them that are
spoiling their good work. These few ones know the real robbers and most of the
time assist them (robbers) to achieve their deadly mission.
You Were Once Rich
And Famous, Where Is The Wealth Today?
In the first instance, where did all the luxuries come from?
No matter how plenty the devil gives, it is for a short period, he will collect
it back. No matter how smart you are, any covenant with the devil, you are
going to lose at the end. It is the devil that will give you a cap and in
return asking buba and gele from you.
Vanity upon vanity all is vanity. There is nothing that one
can gain from the devil apart from frustration and humiliation; at the end you
are going to have disappointment. You
can imagine when I would strike and snatch more than 30 cars. I once snatched
over 42 cars in a day. Some of the cars I gave to whomever I wanted. I had so
much then.
Paul said in Philippians 3:7-13
“But, all that amounted to profit for me in life, I have now seen as loss in
Christ”. Verse 13 now says, “Brethren, I have forgotten the things that are
behind, I press towards things ahead.” In Psalm 126:1, the same Bible tells me
that “when God returns the loss of Zion, we would be like them that dream” I know that to rise in Christ is the responsibility of every
member of the household of faith. The Holy Spirit would use every true
Christian to put on real genuine footing.
The devil gave me so much at that
time and it took what it gave me. If I have to recall the painful details and
the anguish, it does not worth it because I am a new creature. What has been destroyed cannot be restored just like that.
We are now in Christ, he owns and dispenses eternal joy, when we end our race
here, we would return to our eternal home: heaven, where there is no weeping,
no anxiety, anguish, hunger and pain.
Do You Have Any
godfather?
Definitely, when we were in Edo State, we had our godfather
who is always there for us anytime we went on operation. It was the same place
that the likes of Anini, a.k.a. the law and Monday Osunbor Pero, and Lucky
learnt the rudiment of robbery. We sprung up from one source.
What usually comes to
your mind any day you are going for operation?
The first thing that readily came to mind was that ‘the deed must be done’. But before that, we must first ask a person
who owns the world how the day would look like before we step out. There is
a charm called atona (Pathfinder) that we consult before we go out.
It would tell us what we are going to do and which sacrifice
we are going to make before we move out. Again there is what we call eru (fear)
which has been deposited into my body wherever l go, that fear will not let you
challenge my authority.
Where and how did you
get the ammunition you were using?
As I told you that my father was a military man, from the
beginning gun had been assembled and dismembered in our house. Innocently, my
father will be doing this virtually on a daily basis and he tells me to go and
bring one or two things that had connection with the gun in the house and at
the end he would put the gun together as one.
From that daily experience l knew how to handle a gun and by
the time l left him, there was no gun l could not put together. Ironically,
what parents did not take serious and handle with levity, the kids are fast
learning and before you know it, they have mastered the act. If it is a bad
habit, the family will definitely pay for it.
The gun l was using then was in pieces when brought from
outside the country. I later put it together to make it a complete gun. After
that l return it into the world of darkness where it was changed to the gun of
the elders. After this l just recite a few incantations to the gun and whatever
l ask the gun to do is what it will do. However there is no gun that l cannot
handle a few minutes after studying it.
Those who are working
with you, how were they trained?
There is always time for training; we teach them how to
handle it and how to get their target. It was an extensive training which we
normally do most of the time especially when we are going on operation. All
those that are working with me are all in the same cult, they know our dos and
don’ts, we have gone to many places together, that was why it was difficult for
the police to kill anyone of us.
There is a general charm that the death that is meant to
kill anyone of us should kill outsiders. There are some incantations to back it
up and it would be backed up in the world of darkness. Therefore anywhere we go
on operation, instead of recording any casualty, it is the people around that
will die.
Can you recollect how
many people your gun had killed?
No, they are just plenty that l cannot remember. Aside from
this, l used a lot of people for sacrifice that l cannot even remember. I don’t
want to remember those dark days.
Now that you are a
pastor, do you believe that there is a curse that actually affected your
destiny?
You are right. There is a saying in Yoruba that it is only
in war that one can die accidentally, but a curse has a target and no matter
the year it was invoked it will still be operational. That crisis and curse
entered my life when l was still in my mother’s womb. My father is a polygamist
and one day there was a quarrel between my mother and my father’s mother.
Then l was told that my father’s mother invoked a curse on
my mother that she will never deliver me in peace otherwise she is not from
Ikereke (a town in Oyo State) and my mother replied that she will have a normal
delivery as God lives otherwise she will not serve God if she comes in the next
word. From that altercation from both, the curse entered into my life and l
carried the curse and the burden until l met Christ.
How do you handle
women and wine?
I engaged in all what you can call devilish ventures, like
smoking of Indian hemp, wine and in the company of women of easy virtue. I was
in a hotel with about 58 women playing with me, but the warning from the world
of darkness is that l should not take any of them to bed. The instruction l
followed to the letter.
Then l love women but there were boundary which l must not
cross. I am compelled to have fun with my only wife who knew my entire venture
into the world of darkness. That was why all the women sent to me cannot do
anything to me. Though l spent for them, but that was just the limit l could
go.
Is it true that you
once spent N50 million a day?
How many of that do you want to count, plenty? There was a
time we went for an operation in Lagos, and it seemed we were in a tight corner;
we just decided to be giving out the money to the people in order to escape.
There was commotion, everybody was trying to pick as many naira notes as they
can pick.
Did your friends know
the type of person you were?
You know birds of the same feather always flock together.
The so-called friends that l was moving with as at then were also into one form
of shady deals or the other. But the funny thing is that nobody could identify
my being with what l was doing. Even if some of them know me they cannot say it
out because it was too dangerous and there was nobody l cannot kill. I usually
come out in different faces which made it difficult for anybody to really
identify me. That was the power given to me in the world of darkness.
Who was the lady that
used to accompany you to all operations?
She was not a human being, though people referred to her as
an alhaja, but she was a demon donated to me in the world of darkness. She will
dress the way l dressed and must always be with me any time I am going out on
operation. She is the one that was picked from the kingdom of Satan to be my
partner.
How did you meet
Christ?
It was such a miraculous way. I met Christ at a cross road.
It was a miracle l did not expect. I met Christ through Prophet T. O. Obadare.
I made myself available to the police and l have to bear all the detention and
all the agonies l faced for about 11 years. A lot of Christian brothers rallied
round me with conviction that l should give my life to Christ.
Then Papa Obadare came to me in the prison that though l was
expecting death, God has removed death from my head if I am ready to surrender
everything to him. In my own thinking l thought all was over, with all the atrocities
l had committed, but God showed me mercy and gave me the second chance.
So when l slept, l saw that the cloth of yoke and burden was
removed from my neck, l was off from the bondage of Satan, a new cloth was
given to me. By the time l woke up, l was talking in tongues. From that
encounter, for the first time in my life that my soul would calm down, l learnt
how to pray. I stopped taking cocaine and Indian hemp. Everything about me
became new.
What do you think
government can do to stop robbery?
The simple truth is that we cannot stop robbery, but we can
reduce it to the barest minimum, because we asked for it. In Matthew 27, we asked for it. They said Barnabas should be
released instead of Jesus Christ, when Pilate said that this man did not commit
any sin. They said no way, release Barnabas and let his blood be on us and on
our children. Ever since then robbery and killing became the order of
the day.
Government should be able to tap from the wealth of
experience of people like us who can decode a lot of knotty issues as regard
how to curb the menace of armed robbery. Some of those that are inside the
prison are not supposed to be there. By the time they are out, they become
hardened criminals. I pray that God will help us to make things work in this
country, if he could locate me from the pit of darkness where l sojourned, and
now in Christ, he will deliver the country from bad leaders who make things
difficult for the masses.
READ ALSO; How To Save The Perishing Soul From Hell Condemnation.
Mark 8;36-37 "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Finally, i don't know if you are presently in same devilish spot in which Shina rambo find himself many years ago yet above all his acquaintance, riches, wealth, fame and honor he drives. We can vidily behold everything as it drained and withered off because the devil is always a lair and father of all liars.
1 Timothy 6;6-7 "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. I can assured you that Jesus Christ is same today, yesterday and tomorrow, he is still extending his rightful hands of fellowship. The hand of salvation and redemption of pulling you out from any dreaded or diabolic enterprises you might have entangled yourself because death is inevitable and tomorrow is never promised but Jesus Christ is still alive.
