After spending 30 hours in the mortuary, a 70-year-old man identified as Amos Otene, resurrected in Makurdi, capital of Benue State.
On Saturday, August 26, 2015 Otene was confirmed dead by doctors at a private hospital around 4. 30 a.m.
He was covered and wheeled into the mortuary, where they were expecting the family to give a go-ahead order for him to be embalmed.
According to Vanguard, one of Otene’s children, Eche, who lives in Lafia was said to have visited and was taken to the mortuary to confirm that his father had indeed passed on.
Eche disclosed that at about 1.39 pm, the morticians at the hospital wheeled out the trolley containing his father and unveiled the face for him to see.
Otene was said to have been admitted on Tuesday, August 25, 2015 after he complained of severe tooth ache which had persisted for several days.
Family members and other sympathizers continued to throng the hospital after the news of Otene’s death spread like wildfire.
Doctors, who further proved that Otene was dead, extracted the requisite body fluid and other substances from the corpse, for post mortem examination which would ultimately reveal the cause of death.
Eche said, “This is God’s miracle. We glorify God’s name. God is merciful and we can’t thank Him enough for keeping my father alive. What if they had embalmed him? They did not because they were waiting for us. And when I visited the man came alive. It’s God’s work.
“In the process of wheeling my late dad into the mortuary, he started raising his right hand and all of us fled towards the reception area of the mortuary. From a safe distance, we watched as my father lifted himself and sat on the bed and that was about seven minutes later. One of the attendants eventually summoned enough courage and approached my father who fell back on the trolley.
“The doctors ordered that my resurrected father be readmitted in the ward where some medication was administered and he was placed on fresh round of drips. He remained in the ward till Tuesday when the doctors carried out series of tests and certified Otene fit for discharge.”
On Wednesday, at the Otene’s Old GRA residence in Makurdi, he spoke on his encounter with death as well-wishers continued to troop there to catch a glimpse of the resurrected man.
Otene’s wife, Elizabeth, who is hypertensive was not intimated about her husband’s condition for fear that her condition might get worse.
She said: “They did not tell me that my husband died, they only told me after the resurrection and I think it is a miracle. I ask God to forgive me for doubting when they told me that he died and resurrected.
After his resurrection he developed high appetite for food and he has been demanding for food.”
Until his retirement in 2012, Otene reportedly worked at the Department of Forestry of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in Makurdi.
Otene said: “What I remember is that I was in a vehicle and traveled a long distance.
“When I got there, there were many people and there was a lot of celebration and merriment and the people were happy. But they did not allow me to stay with them. They said I should go back and repeat my work.
“I am much better now and I thank God for everything and I also owe many thanks to the hospital for taking care of me and my family members who have been worried. I hope they will continue to be with me until I am completely free from this stress.”
Meanwhile, medical experts noted that Otene could not have died in the first place and that the question of resurrection was out of the question. The only explanation, according to a Makurdi-based medical practitioner, Dr. Ameh Edache, was that he was in a long coma.
Edache explained: “He was in a long coma if he came back to life before embalmment.”
Reacting to the incident, the Medical Director of Rekiya Memorial Hospital, Kaduna, Dr. Bello Mohammed, said, “In the history of medicine, there has not been any case of anybody coming back to life after being certified dead.
“It is not possible but when you talk of miracle, that is a different thing altogether because with miracle, anything can happen.
“But if a person is pronounced clinically dead, he remains dead and there is no way he can come back to life, certainly, not after 24 hours. For this case in question, the only medical explanation is that the patient was in a long coma.”
