EXTRA: ‘I saw God’ — Taribo West speaks on how he became a pastor

Taribo West, the former Super Eagles defender, says he became a clergyman after his football career because God appeared to him “one on one”.

The former Inter Milan bulwark made the disclosure in a chat with BBC on Saturday.

West, who founded Shelter In The Storm Miracle Ministries of All Nation in 2014, narrated the said encounter with God.

He said: “Why would I switch from being a footballer to becoming a pastor? I saw God one-on-one. That’s where my transition started; From the field to the pulpit.

“We were celebrating. In the middle of that, a woman stumbled into me and said: ‘Sir, please may I know your name?’ I said: ‘I am Mr No name’. She said: ‘May I know where you live?’ I said: ‘I live nowhere.’ She left with annoyance.

“In the twinkle of an eye, I just heard an audible voice. And it came like a slap. It said: ‘Switch, turn.’ I turned. It said: ‘Look at the woman. Look for her now and call that woman and apologise to her. I said that to you.’ That can only be a voice from God.

“So I switched, like a Robocop, I start searching for the woman, and when this sister came all the way from America, she told me a lot of prophecies. And she told me in the next one or two years; I would open a church. All the prophecies she gave me came to pass.”

West registered 42 appearances for the Super Eagles between 1994 and 2005.

He was also part of the Nigerian side that won the gold medal in the football event of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.