The Lagos healing Miracle Crusade with Dr. Benny Hinn left on its trail controversies and questions more than the expected healing, miracles and wonders. We present the version of the Nigeria's coordinator Bishop (Dr) Joseph Olanrewaju Obembe, who said there was a calculated plot by top Pentecostal preachers to abort the event, and even after it held successfully, the antagonists are still after his head, peddling rumours and evil tales of financial misconduct. Speaking with newsmen at his church in Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos , Bishop Obembe specifically named Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, president, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), as one of those who plotted against the crusade right from the beginning. Below in his own words, is Bishop Obembe's story:

"I have heard a lot of dirty stories about the Benny Hinn Crusade, which I believe are meant to soil my integrity and pull down my ministry. But the truth will always prevail. People are saying Benny Hinn left in anger.

Well, it was not the first time Benny Hinn would leave Nigerian in anger. When he was brought here 15 years ago by Archbishop Benson Idahosa (now deceased) he also left in anger.

He said people mobbed him at a church in Ibadan , and he went back to the U. S. even with two days left {to the end} of the programme. I was the co-coordinator of the Lagos end of the visit then. Benny Hinn was so eager to leave Nigeria that he even flew economy class.

He said later that the only seat left in the plane was near the toilet, but he took it because he so desperately wanted to leave. He is a perfectionist, and one needs wisdom to work with him, though he is a true man of God.

When he came 15 years ago, we were in Kaduna , in Bishop David Oyedepo's church, and Hinn took my jacket and began to minister, touching people with it. And they got instant miracles. The presence of God was there mightily, and he gave me my jacket back after the ministration.

This latest programme is not the idea of man, it came from God Himself. I was in Jerusalem last year, praying, when God told me that Nigeria needs healing, and that I should invite Benny Hinn to come and pray and hold a crusade. I told God that I didn't have the capacity to do such a thing, and that Hinn has his own parameters for doing things.

When I came back home, as president of Lagos State PFN I led a delegation to see President Olusegun Obasanjo, and I mentioned the idea. He said Nigeria is a free place and anything that will bless the country will be allowed. His chaplain, Prof. Yusuf Obaje then drafted a letter, inviting Hinn to come to Nigeria and pray with the president and do other things in cooperation with Lagos PFN.

To get Benny Hinn was difficult. He turned down the offer to come to Nigeria , and said he was booked till 2008. I then went to the campground of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Ajebo, Ogun State , to pray.

As I was praying God said I should fly to Atlanta , U.S.A. to meet Hinn. At my own cost, I traveled. At the Philips Arena, Atlanta , Georgia , where the man was holding a programme, they said I couldn't see him. but God worked things out.

The next day, he asked to see the delegation from Nigeria , and told me God directed him to come here. This was after he had publicly said he would never come to Nigeria again. He gave me a letter as chairman/co-coordinator of the programme under the auspices of Communion of Charismatic CChurches in Nigeria .

When I came back home in excitement, I went to meet some top Pentecostal leaders, who I thought should be happy, but surprisingly, they were furious. As somebody brought up in the Foursquare Church , my passion is for salvation of souls, and I was amazed and embarrassed at the response of the leaders.

But Dr. Wilson Badejo of the Foursquare, Pastor E. A. Adeboye of The Redeemed Christian Church of God and Bishop David Oyedepo encouraged me to go ahead.

Adeboye said the programme must be of God and gave approval for the use of the Redemption Camp, as the National Stadium would be too small for the crowd we expected,while the Tafawa Balewa Square was also not suitable since it is in the heart of the city. We expected up to six million people to attend the crusade.

Pastor Adeboye gave the ground free of charge, but we were to pay for utilities. Every department there is self-accountable. Benny Hinn was excited, only for some church leaders here to write to him, saying they are against the programme and that the venue is not acceptable.

I began to visit them one by one again, but they told me I won't have their support. But Benny Hinn wrote me back, saying his commitment to come to Nigeria was intact, so I started mobilizing. We started visiting the conventions of different cChurches from October last year, distributing handbills.

I took a loan of N14 million from El-Shaddai to begin the initial mobilization work. People came from Benny Hinn Ministries and were so impressed, they did their own costing and found that most of the posters, handbills, billboard we did were cost effective.

They went back to report to him. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) began to work with us. This is the umbrella body of all Christian groups, even including PFN.

Last December, as a close friend of Oritsejafor, Benny Hinn came to Warri on a one-day visit, and there again, some people told him that they were the real people who can organize successful crusade in Nigeria .

In a letter dated January 5, 2005, Benny Hinn Ministries wrote a letter, affirming me as head coordinator for the local organizing committee of the crusade, adding: "Rev. Ayo Oritsejafor should be asked to have a role in the crusade, but not as the coordinator, to consider him being part of the committee." Every month, a staff came from Benny Hinn, checking both costs and disbursements.

In February, Oritsejafor became president of PFN, and he sent another negative report to Hinn saying nothing was on ground for the crusade, and that I'd been removed as president of Lagos PFN because of financial misappropriation, and that Bishop Peter Okodua was the new president.

He even said the Federal Government was about to cancel the programme. In March, a delegation came from Hinn, led by a former FBI officer, who had joined the ministries.

They asked questions, went through the records, and discovered that some Nigerian preachers were behind the allegations out of sheer jealousy.

They thereafter sent me a letter of clearance and commendation dated March 28, 2005, part of which reads: "From the recent reports of our investigation panel sent to appraise things in Nigeria. We hereby commend Bishop (Dr.) Olanrewaju Obembe and the local organizing committee for their diligence, resilience, integrity and good work done to date" Oritsejafor did not stop.

He set up what he called a National Presidential Committee to take over the day-to-day running of the crusade, saying the programme is an international one. He appointed Bishop Peter Okodua as the coordinator. I said no problem, but wrote Hinn, who wrote back, saying there was no need for the committee.

The letter dated April 8, 2005, reads in part: ". In addition, because of time constraints (less than three weeks to the crusade) it may not be necessary to set up another committee to create more bureaucracy.

The letter of invitation from the Presidency last year stated categorically that we were coming to Nigeria under the auspices of Lagos Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria . and it will be highly appreciated if every group joins hands with the local organizing committee to make this crusade a success.

On April 25, four days, to the crusade, we needed $100,000 urgently and the Benny Hinn Ministries gave a corporate guarantee, saying a loan should be taken, which will be paid back "from the offerings, and donations received during the crusade." or "through wire transfer to Nigeria from Benny Hinn Ministries' Corporate headquarters in the U. S. A."

I personally pledged a property before a bank gave us the loan. I received Hinn at the airport with a lot of excitement, and the programme opened on Friday. Despite the fuel scarcity, more than one million people attended, but at the end, one of the leaders went to the evangelist and said, they fooled you.

Where are the 6 million people? We told you that if you want to do crusade in Nigeria , we're the people to organize it.' We had over one million people everyday, and at the end, over 4 million people attended, but these detractors worked on Hinn not to acknowledge the efforts of the LOC. On the first day, I sat next to Hinn, but on the second day, Oritsejafor insisted he would sit next to him, and he did.

In all, we spent $1 million dollars locally and when I say 'we', I mean the LOC and Benny Hinn Ministries. There was no money spent without their approval. Where did $4million dollars then come in?

The point is that for months before the crusade, Benny Hinn had been announcing on Trinity Broadcast Network (TBN) that he was going to spend $4 million on a crusade in Nigeria , and people had given massively.

We spent only $1 million dollars locally, and Benny Hinn Ministries in the U. S spent the rest.The evangelist was psyched by our own people not to acknowledge the efforts of the LOC, simply out of jealousy.