Pastor Ezekiel Dachomo, a vocal preacher and advocate for persecuted Christians in Nigeria, has reflected on his life before encountering Jesus. He recalled his troubled past, including how he used to tear pages from the Bible to wrap and smoke Indian hemp.
He made the confession during a video interview with Ryan Miller, which was monitored online by Church Times.
Dachomo, who has been a prominent voice for Christians in Northern Nigeria, admitted to living a “wayward” life as a young man. He also claimed to have been an associate of an armed robbery gang before his deliverance.
“I lost my mother at the age of six and began living recklessly. I was sleeping on the streets and was an associate of a group of robbers. I lived without God, smoking and drinking heavily. I even remember removing pages of the Bible to wrap Indian hemp. Satan was controlling my life without me even knowing it.”
The Turning Point
Dachomo, who currently serves as the Regional Church Council Chairman of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), recounted a 1980 bank robbery in Jos led by his best friend. At the time, he said, “I never believed I would encounter God.”
The turning point came in 1985 through a vivid dream.
“In that dream, I saw Jesus tell His angels to strike the demons controlling my life. I discovered there were 14 demons influencing me,” he said. Following that encounter, his desire for his old lifestyle vanished.
“I found I could no longer smoke. I tried, but I couldn’t. The addiction was completely destroyed. I went to a bar to drink, but I couldn’t even finish a bottle. The woman selling the drinks asked if I was sick. That was when I knew something fundamental had changed.”
A Life of Advocacy
When he first approached a church to repent, many were skeptical of his sincerity. However, after sharing his experience, he was accepted and led to Christ. Though he initially resisted ordination—preferring to be an itinerant evangelist—he eventually stepped into his role as a pastor.
Dachomo believes his past prepared him for his current mission in Northern Nigeria. He attributes the growing global awareness of the plight of Northern Christians to seven years of consistent, sacrificial prayer held in Berom land.in the north.
The Current Crisis
The pastor lamented the thousands of lives lost to religious persecution, tracing the current violence back to a historical agenda to overrun the Middle Belt and move South by Islamist jihadists.
“The Middle Belt was the last line of resistance,” he noted. “But today, they are trying to push back and conquer more territories”
His advocacy is deeply personal. Dachomo shared harrowing accounts of loss:. He has overseen numerous mass burials. His grandmother was killed and mutilated.. His uncle was murdered by terrorists.. His friend’s wife and four children were killed in separate attacks.
Dachomo stated that over 100 Christian villages have been decimated and many schools deserted in the north due to insurgency. “What we want is to be able to go back to our land,” he pleaded urging the church at large to come to the aid of the church in the north