After spending 10 years in jail, this ex-robber now works in God’s vineyard - News Plus

• Adesida

 FROM PRISON TO THE PULPIT
•After spending 10 years in jail, this ex-robber now works in God’s vineyard
From NGOZI UWUJARE, Ibadan

He was born into royalty, but he metamorphosed into a notorious criminal, a dangerous armed robber who regularly terrorized the neighbourhood. But today, the man has been transformed and he now helps to bring lost souls into the kingdom of God. His name is Prince Samson Adesida.

 Now 54, the Akure prince and younger brother to a former Deji of Akure Kingdom was a notorious robber. He was, until recently, an inmate of Agodi Prisons, Ibadan. He had spent 10 years and eight months in an Awaiting Trial cell before he was miraculously released by the Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Adeniyi Banjoko.

 He now works in the vineyard of God in the Livingspring Chapel, Ibadan.
 In an interview with Daily Sun, he spoke of how he started his journey into the notorious world of robbery. According to him, he commenced his career in crime in 1980 when he was a driver to some of the most wanted robbers in those days. His bosses were Monday Osunbo, Kingsley Igwe and one Alex, all of whom were eventually executed by firing squad in Benin, the Edo State capital.

 “I was their driver and I always dropped them at the scene of robbery,” he recalled. “Immediately they were shot dead in 1987, I left Benin. I ran to Ibadan in 1989.” After his successful apprenticeship in Benin, Prince Adesida later formed his own gang of bandits. “We specialised in robbing banks and other big companies. My gang operated in places like Benin, Port- Harcourt, Enugu, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti and other states in the country.

 “I was also a fake pastor,” he said. “I started a church in Ibadan. I was the General Overseer of Prince of Peace Christian Ministry at Oluyole Estate Extension, Ibadan. I was a fake pastor and I even employed one pastor (names withheld) from Osun State. But I was a complete armed robber. I robbed several people on the highways in Kogi and Kwara states,” he said. According to him, during his reign as a robbery kingpin, he hardly robbed clergymen, noting that men of God don’t usually have money in their homes.

 “I used to buy my guns which I used for operation from Onitsha, Port-Harcourt and Enugu. I had many rooms in different hotels but I rented a house in Apata area of Ibadan where my wife and three children resided. My wife knew that I was an armed robber but she didn’t tell me to stop the act because we were making plenty of money.”
 His exploits didn’t last for long, however. Adesida said he was arrested for armed robbery on December 18, 2000. Explaining how he was picked up, he said: “God arranged my life like that of Jonah to change my life for good. My neighbour was arrested for being in possession of Indian hemp by policemen. We were not members of the same gang, but he brought policemen to my house so that I could arrange for his bail. He knew that I had money and that I had just bought a new car.

 “But when the policemen came into my house, they saw a lot of money. They also saw some guns and money as well as my new cars. That was how they arrested me. I eventually confessed to them. They took me to the State CID at Iyaganku, Ibadan. From there I was charged to court for conspiracy and armed robbery.
 “Two of my gang members, Sina Adeyemo and Felix Awoyinka were also arrested for being in possession of Indian hemp. They also confessed to be armed robbers.” He said he was awaiting trial at Court 8, State High Court, Ring Road, Ibadan. He was kept at Agodi Prisons for 10 years and eight months before he was released on December 6, 2010.

 “While I was in prison, my wife left me and remarried. another man. She couldn’t wait to see the end of my trial. None of my relations or friends came to see me in the prison. God was with me and I focussed on God. I cried to him and he listened to me and delivered me. In the prison, I went to the school of transformation, the potter’s house where God remodelled my destiny.

 “I received a divine intervention. I went to school of evangelism at Agodi Prison through the welfare department. I spent two years with them. I enrolled for pastoral course also at the prison through the same welfare department. I was ordained a minister of the gospel. I realised the purpose of God which says, ‘Our ways are not His way while our thought is not His own thought (Isaiah 55: 11)’”

 He explained that when he was released from prison, he had to join Living Spring Chapel, noting that he also joined their school of Leadership and Pastors from where he passed out in April 2011.“I was happy the way Pastor Femi Emmanuel received me. I didn’t deny that I was a former robber. He paid my house rent, fed and clothed me and equally sponsored me to missionary school,” he said. Adesida said he is now a full gospel pastor. “I am now a new creature and right now I want to remarry. I need a new wife who will follow me to spread the gospel.”

 In his words, God has designed a way and a purpose for everyone, adding that his is to spread the gospel of God to all nations. “I also want to work with the police. I will be praying for them. I will also be giving them information and help them in fighting criminals,” he said.