The full story of Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu is featured in the movie, “THE LAZARUS PHENOMENON” which may be viewed on this web site. His story was filmed in location in Nigeria, and includes computer graphics of both Heaven and Hell. In the movie there is live actual footage of his return to life, after being dead for three days. Daniel has his death certificate, dated November 30th 2001, and many people witnessed his return from death. These include his family, friends, church members, medical doctors, and the mortician who attended him. This story is included with the permission of Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu.
Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu appeared to be completely in control as he drove his car through the busy streets to his home in Lagos, Nigeria. There was nothing to show that he was boiling with rage at his wife. The Lord Jesus intervened in Daniel’s life to bring him back to reality. Daniel related the story from his home in Lagos.
It was Christmas time, and my family always celebrates the birth of Jesus with our family and friends. I arrived home a few days before Christmas with a goat for my father. I had a quarrel with my wife, Nneka, on the previous Thursday. On Thursday night she knocked on my bedroom door, but I refused to open the door to her. The next morning she knocked again on my door, and again I did not answer. As I came out of the room, she said “Good morning, Daddy,” but I ignored her, and would not talk to her. I then left the house, as she had offended me. I was very angry with her. I drove my car away from the house without even seeing my son on his bike, and nearly ran over our pet dog. I was told later that my son had asked his mother where I was, and she said that I would be home soon.
I was going to deliver the goat to my father in Owerri. When I arrived, I saw my dad and said to him, “Hello Dad, I have a goat for you.” I took the goat out of the car and gave it to him. Then I climbed into the car to return home. The sun was setting on the way back and I was anxious to arrive home as soon as possible, so I was driving faster than normal. As I passed a truck, the car seemed to be sluggish and unresponsive to the controls. I was travelling down quite a steep hill, and was about to turn into another dirt road. I applied the brake, but nothing happened. Even when I pumped the brakes nothing happened. The other cars in the road hooted, and pedestrians shouted at me, but there was nothing I could do. I crashed into a palm tree. The whole thing was weird. I seemed to see things happening in slow motion, and then there was darkness.
My wife, Nneka did not realize that I had been involved in an accident until she saw the people carrying me on their shoulders down the road. “The pastor is dead,” they were screaming. She knew that they were screaming about me. She went to the scene of the accident and then learned that I was not dead, but in a very serious condition. Some of the people had taken me to the local hospital where I was rushed into the Intensive Care Unit. She traveled to the hospital, where she found me.
I insisted on being taken to my family doctor at Owerri. Nneka also asked the surgeon to move me to our family doctor. Nneka was advised that I was not well enough to travel or to make decisions, and that I may die if I left the hospital.
Nneka then signed a discharge authority to remove me from the hospital at her own risk. She arranged for me to be taken in an ambulance at high speed to the clinic in Owerri, where our private doctor practiced. I was in great pain during the journey, and I passed out. As the ambulance continued along at high speed, I saw two angels who lifted me up out of the ambulance by my shoulders. Nneka did not know anything about this. Suddenly the two angels left, and I found myself in another place with one angel.
The angel said to me, “Daniel, I have a lot to show you.” He showed me a place where a multitude of white figures was gathered. They were pure white, and their bodies seemed to glow with a radiant light. I thought that I was seeing a gathering of angels because they all appeared similar.
The ambulance arrived at the clinic with my body. A doctor from the clinic checked my body for vital signs. Since he could find no vital signs, he declared that I was dead. Nneka was given a death certificate by the doctor, and she was told to give it to the mortician who would take care of my corpse. He said that my body should be moved to my own mortuary. Nneka however insisted, “No, my husband is not dead. He can not leave me and die like this.”
The angel said that the gathering was not a gathering of angels, but a gathering of the saints. There were some subtle differences between the angels and the saints that I noticed. Their colour was pure brilliant white. The angels had wings, but the saints did not. The saints there were worshipping God with one voice and raised their hands as they were singing. I heard the sound of many instruments, and their sounds were like nothing I had ever heard before. I longed to join in the singing but the angel would not allow me to. The angel said to me “Daniel, don’t go. I have a lot to show you. Take this file and record everything you see.”
The many people that I saw were clothed in light, and shone like the sun. They were the source of light there. There was another light beaming down upon them, and they were looking at that light. But I could not look at that light because it hurt my eyes.
On the 30th November 2001 my body was taken to the mortuary. Darlington Manu, the local mortician, arranged for the burial and discussed the details with my family and friends.
Daniel Ekechuckwu’s entry in Darlington Manu’s mortuary register 30th November 2001 Exactly a year previously Nneka was praying after a very bad day. Whilst she was in prayer, the Lord had given her a word from the Bible. She read a verse, in Hebrews 11:35, that reads, “women received their dead raised to life again.”
After my death Nkeke meditated on the words, “women received their dead raised to life again”. Whilst meditating on these words, the thought occurred to her that although her husband was dead, he would be raised to life, as in the Bible. Nneke had an impression that she should take my body to Reinhard Bonnke’s crusade, and that I would be raised back to life.
The angel said to me, “Let us visit the mansions Jesus has prepared for His people.” Immediately I was in a new place with mansions as far as the eye could see. Nothing on Earth could compare with these mansions. Although their appearances resembled buildings, the structures were unusual, not made of Earthly material. The buildings seemed alive, and moving. There were flowers everywhere, and beautiful singing and worship came from everywhere.
The angel said to me, “Jesus has finish His work, but the saints are not yet ready. The worship you are hearing is being sung by the flowers.” I looked and saw the flowers swaying in response to the music. It actually seemed as if they were clapping their hands, shouting and praising God. The angel said, “The flowers are waiting for the saints.”
Darlington Manu was in the mortuary between twelve midnight, and one o’clock in the morning. He heard sounds coming from the mortuary, including singing, praising, and the clapping of hands. He wondered what was taking place, and decided to find out where the music was coming from.
As I was staring at the flowers singing the angel said to me, “We are going to visit Hell. Can you see the gates of Hell?” He raised his hand, and as he brought his hand down the gates opened with a loud noise. I could hear the crying and wailing of many people, but could not see them. I could not see very well, because of the darkness. However, the angel shone a light into the darkness, and then I could see more clearly. There were many people there. But, unlike the appearances of the people in Heaven, the appearance of these people was as it had been whilst they were on Earth. They were from every race, culture and nationality. Everyone seemed to be trapped in his or her own personal torment, a torment that would go on for eternity. The people could not communicate with any of the other people there. The sounds of crying and wailing were almost deafening. Suddenly they all seemed to become aware of me, and started shouting to me for help. They all called out to me only, and appeared not to see the angel.
A tormented soul shouted to me, “Please help. I am a pastor. I stole money from church and I lied. Help me, please. I am ready to repent”. I noticed that immediately after the pastor made that statement, the force that was tormenting him seemed to increase. The people had flesh, but no blood, and they seemed to be on fire, but no flames could be seen.
There was a group of people that were eating their own flesh. They would vomit what they ate, and their flesh grew back again. This carried on in an endless cycle of torment. I thought to myself, “This place is not good for any human being, created by God, to go to. God did not make this place for human beings. He made this place for the Devil and his demons. Stubborn humans who disobey God will go here, just like the devil. This is a dangerous and a deadly place. God made it for the devil and his demons.”
The angel said to me, “Daniel, if the book of your life was to be closed today, this would be your portion.” This was completely shattering news to me. I said to the angel, “No. I am a pastor. I am a child of God. I am born again. And I have preached all over this country.”
The angel said sternly, “Enough, Daniel. On the way to the first hospital you were asking God to forgive you. But you would not forgive your wife. Therefore your sins have not been forgiven. It is a matter of reaping what you have sown. You cannot show unforgiveness to your wife, and reap forgiveness from God.”
I realised that the judgement was true for me, because I was angry with my wife, and I believed. God judged my heart so the angel said to me that, since I did not forgive my wife, I was not forgiven. I was crying, and said, “See how I destroyed my soul.” While I was shouting and crying, I was afraid, and was covered in my own tears. I experienced panic because of the horror of Hell. If God wanted to send me to Hell, then nothing could prevent Him. While we were discussing this thousands of people were being sent to Hell.
Nneka told me that she had decided that she must take a step of faith, to make sure that I was brought back to life. She told my father that my family should take my body to the Reinhardt Bonnke meeting. But my father did not agree to this request, and dismissed her request to remove the body from the mortuary.
Meanwhile on the other side of the town things were working miraculously in favour of Nneka. Darlington Manu contacted my father, Lawrence Eke Imubwa. He told my father to remove the corpse they had brought to the mortuary. He said that he had seen some unusual signs in the mortuary. He did not know the reason for these signs, and did not want these experiences to trouble his conscience later, if he did nothing about the situation. He told my father to remove the body from his mortuary. My father asked why, and Darlington Manu replied, “Because things happened last night. I heard singing and music. You must take Daniel’s body to the Reinhardt Bonnke meeting.”
Nneka and my father then removed my body from the mortuary. They dressed my body, and put my body inside the coffin. Darlington Manu traveled with them when they left Owerri and went to Onitsha, where Reinhardt Bonnke was holding a crusade. My dressed body was place in a white coffin that they had bought, and the coffin was loaded into a hired ambulance. Darlington Manu had agreed to go, in addition, to be a witness of my body coming back to life. When they arrived at the crusade the security guards prevented them from going into the crusade area.
Nneka told me that some people had been very unpleasant to her. She explained, “My husband, Daniel, is a man of God. He has had an accident and has died.” Nneka asked permission to take my body into the meeting, so that Reinhardt Bonnke could pray for me, and bring me back to life. The security guards refused them entry into the premises, thinking they might have a bomb in the coffin. The procession was redirected to a room at the back of the church, and my body was taken out of the coffin and was laid on a table. People started praying over my body, for my body to come back to life.
The angel said that he was sending me back to the world to warn this generation. As people prayed, my heart began to beat. They all continued praying, and my breathing gradually improved, but my body was still stiff with rigor mortis.
I saw myself being held up by lots of people. I was wearing only my trousers. They dressed me in my clothes. There was a crowd of people of more than two thousand. I looked around, and everywhere people were shouting and crying. Some were praising God. I could not understand what was happening. I saw hands grabbing me. They later told me that I jumped up out of the coffin. I could not understand what was happening. When I went to Heaven it seemed to me that I was there for no more than fifteen minutes. I could not understand why these people said I had been dead for three days. I had experienced no day, and no night. To me, it seemed that I had only experienced a short time in Heaven. I asked my wife, “What is happening?’ In reply, she said I should keep quiet until we arrived at the house.
They brought me back to the house with my wife on the 2nd December 2001. When we were alone in the bedroom I asked my wife, “What is happening? What about the coffin and the time in the mortuary?” Then my wife looked at my body, where the mortician had injected chemicals, and said, “Daddy, did you know you were in the mortuary for three days?”
Nneka showed me my death certificate. She told me what had happened after they had taken me from the ambulance to the hospital, where the doctor confirmed that I had died. They had used their equipment to check my vital signs. The doctor confirmed he had checked my heartbeat, the pupils of my eyes, and everything else. After checking all my vital signs he confirmed that I was indeed dead. He then gave them a certificate, on which it was indicated that my family should remove my body to the mortuary. Nneka showed me my death certificate, where it clearly says, “Demise. For removal to mortuary.”
Following the release of the movie,“The Lazarus Phenomenon”, the testimony of Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu’s has had a world- wide impact. The fact is that many people, including family, friends, church members and a mortician can all testify that Daniel was indeed dead for three days and three nights.
Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu may be contacted at the following e-mail address: [email protected]
The true story of Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu is included, with his kind permission, in the free e-book BEYOND THE FINAL FRONTIER which includes 27 similar true stories, and may be freely read and downloaded from www.finalfrontier.org.uk
The true story of Pastor Daniel Ekechukw may be watched and downloaded in the free movie THE LAZARUS PHENOMENON available on this web site.