Garrick Braide (Elijah II of the Niger Delta)
Prophets & Divine Messengers • Historical Archive • 🇳🇬 Nigeria • 15 views

Garrick Braide (Elijah II of the Niger Delta) 🇳🇬

Garrick Sokari Marian Braide (Known as "Elijah II / Garrick Braide")
Charismatic Prophet, Social Crusader Against Alcoholism, Indigenous Church Leader
Born c. 1882 🇳🇬 Obonoma, Nigeria
Passed Away Nov 15, 1918 Port Harcourt
Lifespan ~36 years old
15 views
Notice / Correction
"Cast down your charms and throw your bottles into the river! He who drinks gin drinks fire and death; turn your hearts to the living Christ, the true healer of our people."

Archival Overview

Known as 'Elijah II' across the Niger Delta, Garrick Braide sparked a colossal religious and social revival in 1915–1916, destroying traditional occult charms and crushing the colonial trade in European gin, which threatened British commercial monopolies.

Biographical Record

Garrick Sokari Marian Braide was an Ijaw river trader from Obonoma in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. Baptized in the Anglican Church in 1910, his extraordinary spiritual gifts of healing and prayer quickly captured the imagination of the entire riverine population.

The Crusade Against Spirit Trade

In 1915, Braide announced his divine mission as a prophet sent to purify Africa. Tens of thousands rushed to hear him. In addition to demanding the complete abandonment of indigenous juju charms, Braide attacked the greatest social curse imposed by colonial merchants: the importation and consumption of potent European gin. Within months, alcohol consumption plummeted across the Niger Delta, transforming violent communities into peaceful prayer circles.

Persecution and Martyrdom

Because the British colonial administration derived over thirty percent of its regional customs revenue from gin duties, British authorities viewed Braide's mass temperance movement as an existential economic insurrection. Arrested on trumped-up charges in 1916 and sentenced to hard labor, Braide died during the 1918 influenza pandemic shortly after his release, inspiring the birth of the Christ Army Church across Nigeria.

Key Life Milestones

1915

The Great Niger Delta Temperance & Spiritual Awakening

Leads hundreds of thousands in destroying witchcraft fetishes and completely paralyzes the colonial gin traffic.

1916

Colonial Show Trial & Foundation of Christ Army Church

Courageously withstands British imperial imprisonment, inspiring the founding of independent African churches.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
Bakana Christian Cemetery, Degema
Port Harcourt
GPS: 4.7333, 6.9667
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