Celestial Holy City Imeko
| Celestial City, Imeko | |
|---|---|
 Celestial City, Imeko
|
|
| Coordinates: 7°27′08″N 2°50′22″E / 7.452348°N 2.839408°E | |
| Location | Imeko, Ogun State |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Denomination | Celestial Church of Christ |
| History | |
| Founded | 1985 |
| Founder(s) | Samuel Oshoffa |
Celestial City, Imeko is the Holy City of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC). It is located in the Imeko Afon Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria, very close to the border with Benin. Celestial City is known as "Jerusalem" by the celestials. The city has potential as a tourist location.
Imeko is a small, spread out village in a hilly region of Ogun State a few kilometers from the Benin border. The vegetation is a mixture of savannah belt and sparse forest suitable for cattle raising. Most people are engaged in farming, with tomatoes and cassava being the most important crops. Imeko is the home town of the mother of the Prophet "Papa" Samuel Oshoffa, who founded the Celestial Church of Christ in 1947 in Dahomey (now Benin), moving to Nigeria in 1979.
In 1973 a visionary told Oshoffa of a visitation by a troop of angels who had said the Celestial City must be built at Imeko in a place called Igbo-Ifa, home of the traditional Yoruba deity Orunmila. Mecca would be closed and Jerusalem would move to Imeko. This confirmed messages the Prophet believed he had received from Christ. Oshoffa initiated construction of the Celestial City in 1983.
Oshoffa had directed that if he died in Nigeria he should be buried near his mother on family land at Imeko, and his burial ground be treated as holy ground and a place of pilgrimage. If he were to die in Dahomey he was to be buried at Seme in his home town of Porto-Novo. Oshoffa died in Lagos, Nigeria on 10 September 1985 a few days after surviving a car crash. He was buried according to his wishes at Celestial City on 19 October 1985 with great ceremony. He left behind 34 wives and 150 children. The Porto-Novo congregation was angry at the choice of burial place, and there were rumors of plans to remove the body to Porto-Novo. The Nigerian police took special precautions to prevent this happening.
Alexander Abiodun Adebayo Bada was proclaimed the second Pastor of the church on 17 December 1985, and his appointment was ratified by the general congregation at their annual Christmas festival and convocation at Imeko on 25 December 1985. After a two-year waiting period, Bada was enthroned as Pastor at Celestial City on 24 December 1987.
Imeko became a place of pilgrimage at Christmas for thousands of Celestial Christians from Nigeria, from other parts of West Africa and from more distant parts including London and the United States, although most of the Benin congregation gather in Seme, Porto-Novo. The journey to Imeko is expensive and may be difficult to accomplish. Travelers from Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire, for example, face a long coach ride costing the equivalent of a month's minimum wages. The traveler must pay visa fees, informal fees at border crossings, and anointment fees on arrival. But an important part of the pilgrimage is the opportunity to be anointed, which can only be done by the Pastor of the church, and usually only at Imeko.
...
Wikipedia