Ifeanyi Calistus took to Facebook to write how he and his wife were shot by armed robbers a month after their wedding in 2014.
He was shot at the hip within close range while his wife was shot in the leg which led to her miscarriage. His post below:
"On the midnight of 29th August, I received a strange but curious message. The message read "You are sleeping while your life and business is on redline. Very soon, we shall know if it's the police or Army will save you". His name appeared on truecaller as scorpion2. I didn't know this person.
But the man continued to call me. He said i was joking with fire because i had refused to contact him after reading his message. He threatened that soon I will be kidnapped and neither the police nor Army could save me. I asked him to explain the meaning of all that rubbish. I wanted him to tell me exactly what he wanted me to do but he refused to talk.
I contacted Barr Emeka Ugwuonye, the founder of Due Process's Advocates. He has been giving scammers bloody nose of late. He advised me to calm down and allow the man to send in more messages. He promised to track him down. But the man continued to harass me every morning and night.
I told the man that he was threatening and harassing a dead man. He asked me... ' who is a dead man?' I told him I was a dead man but through the grace of God, I overcame. He became sober and more interested on why I said so. I told him that even though I had stopped sharing the experience. I don't usually feel good going through that horrible memory lane but because he tried to scare me, I will tell him the story to prove to him that nothing scares me again.
On the midnight of 15th of may 2014 about one year after my wedding, armed robbers invaded my residence and opened fire on me and my wife. Bullets poured everywhere like rain drops. They were four in number, all armed with AK47/automatic riffle. I was shot at the hip within a close range. My wife was shot at the leg through a closed door.
We were taken to Emmanuel clinic and they couldn't handle our case and from there we were transfered to Rehoboth Orthopaedic Hospital here in Portharcourt. God did wonders through the hand of the professor in charge of the hospital.
I never knew life to be such a fragile reality. Men should be humble and seek the face of God always because we live only by the grace of God and there is nothing in this side of existence.
On the 17th of may 2014, i came face to face with death. Same day, my wife had a terrible miscarriage. I had insisted to be taken to the toilet to ease myself. I couldn't imagine myself doing it on the hospital bed inside the stainless plate the nurses provided. People were begging me to just relax and accept the reality of what happened to me. The whole scene appeared to me like a dream.
Two persons guided me, one by my right and the other by my left. Gradually, they walked me through the toilet door. Suddenly, i had an upsurge in my system. My face turned pale. my legs became weak. I complained that i do not know what was happening to me. They assisted me as i sat on the bathtub. Immediately i had a total blackout. I transited from this world of reality to the other side of existence. I could neither see nor hear the people around me.
I found myself roaming in a garden full of shrubs and flowers. I was wondering what i was doing there all alone. while i was there, i started hearing shrill voices from a distant place. Gradually the voices kept drawing nearer and finally, they became real. I was hearing things like....''call the Doctor'', ''pour water on his head'', ''lets carry him back to the bed'' etc. I was also hearing prayers like ''God you never disappointed me'', ''God manifest yourself in this place'' etc. I also felt serious beating on my chest. Infact it was this beating that helped brought me back to consciousness.
When i opened my eyes, i was surprised to see that people were running helter- skelter.The Doctor was already on hand with his stetoscope hung round his neck. My brother was already in a serious praying mood while he held me very close to himself. Finally,they took me back to my bed where the Doctor examined me thoroughly and placed me on life support where I was breathing through the aid of oxygen bottle. Few hours later, I was revived.
I was thinking about what happened and suddenly a negative imagination flashed through my mind. I thought to myself that had i died,the best epitaph befitting my Obituary announcement would have read..................
GONE SO SOON
The man was terribly shaken by my story. I told him that I still move around today with bullet buried inside my hip because the doctor couldn't remove it. When I had my first surgery, a metal plate was inserted into my system to link the femur damaged by bullets to the sucket. After one year, I had another excruciating surgery to remove the metal plate.
It was truly a long walk to full recovery. It took us three years to be back on our feet. Lot of money were spent. We passed through horrible pains, material wealth and other resources were expended. To God be the glory. We survived. Recently, my wife gave birth to a bouncing baby girl. Today our joy is complete.
The man who was threatening me a while ago, was so sorry for every inconvenience and thanked God for saving my life and that of my wife. I told him that we are having Thanksgiving service and Child dedication next Sunday, 10th of September 2017 in Portharcourt. I invited him but he declined and continued to apologize for harassing me. We are friends now. I sent him some of the pictures we took in the hospital and shells of the bullets picked after the attack.
