Rev Ben Eragbai: From shrine to pulpit

•Transforms former cultists, robbers to soldiers of God

Founder of Divine Appointment Ministry International, Reverend Ben Iragbai’s journey from the Afrika’s Shrine owned by the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti to the pulpit is a testament to the power of redemption and grace.

Once a regular at the shrine, he was immersed in a world of rebellion, unaware that God had other plans for him. One of the most notable exploits of Iragbai, popularly known as “Jesus Soldier,” was when he spent a week living on the streets, ministering to drug users and prostitutes. He shared his testimony with them and showed them that he understood their struggles. Many eventually became followers of Jesus Christ and began the journey to recovery.

In this interview with Evelyn Usman, Reverend Iragbai reveals how his ministry had become a beacon of hope for those struggling with addiction, and how many of them, now transformed, were not just members of his church but have become pastors evangelizing to their peers on the streets.
Excerpts:

My story started at Fela’s Shrine in the early days. I was still at the University of Benin (UNIBEN) in 1985.

My friends and I would travel to the shrine in Lagos to smoke and observe Yabis night on Fridays, returning to school on Saturday. In fact, that was the church I knew. After smoking on Saturdays, we would sleep on people’s car bonnets; it was that bad.

I was also a rebel to Christianity, thinking everything about it was fake because I grew up in an Army Barracks in Lagos during my primary school days. Then, we would go to church in the morning, and in the evening, my guardian would invite native doctors to perform certain rituals and make incisions on our heads.

So, when I finally got to campus, I made the decision “no more church” and that was it. My parents never thought anything good would come from me. But grace found me. I was supposed to be the least, but God called me.

Turning point

The turning point came when I attended Archbishop Idahosa’s crusade, where I saw raw power and sincerity. I began attending church, eventually accepting the Holy Spirit, which was the turning point in my life. However, I backslid while traveling abroad, getting caught up in drugs again.

Nevertheless, grace found me once more, and I returned to Nigeria to attend Bible school and rededicate my life to Christ.

I started my pulpit work on the third floor of a story building at Logemo, Onipanu bus stop, Lagos. When we were building our Fadeyi branch, the present Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, CP, was a Divisional Police Officer then. He said he would put his men on red alert because there were bad boys in the area who were into different kinds of illegal things, even fighting with police. However, he was amazed to hear that there was no problem with the boys.

Instead, two of the boys who used to be in and out of police cells were ushers in our church. Some of the young men who worshipped with us were once cultists. One got arrested by God while attempting to rob and another was sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

When he was released by human rights activists, his family rejected him. Confused, he returned to the man he met in prison, who gave him a gun to join his gang.

However, on the day of the operation, he heard me preaching and decided to come in and listen. I counseled him to leave the gang and I sent him to stay with one of my members in Surulere.