Titbits

My Narrow Escape From Ritual Killers In Ibadan- Farooq A. Kperogi

Published

4 years ago

November 24, 2021

Editor

The spate of unnerving stories about “evil forests” and “ritual killers” in Ibadan and Abeokuta that Nigerian newspapers have regaled us with over the past few weeks reminded me of my own chillingly close shave with “ritual killers” in Ibadan in 1999.

In February 1999 I was admitted to University of Ibadan’s MA program in Communication Arts. I was then a reporter with the Weekly Trust, which was headquartered in Kaduna. When I received my admission letter in the mail, I told my editor that I would relocate to Ibadan to pursue my MA and asked if I would be allowed to be the paper’s correspondent in Ibadan.

Weekly Trust was barely a year old then and I was one of the paper’s core reporters. As I expected, my editor said my sudden departure would disrupt the paper’s steady progress, so he pleaded with me to defer my admission to the following year. I wasn’t persuaded. I really wanted the MA.

On a Sunday night in March 1999, I set out for Ibadan and arrived there on a Monday morning. I went straight to the University of Ibadan and started my registration. I thought I would be done with it in a day and return to Kaduna the following day, but it turned out that I needed another day—and maybe more—to go through all the protocols of enrollment.

Because I hadn’t slept on the bus the previous night, I was so thoroughly fatigued by the close of day that I could barely keep my eyes open.

I got out of the university campus and asked someone to direct me to a nearby hotel that was moderately priced. I had no success finding one. I was told that I would get one if I went a little further into the city. I did, and found a hotel whose name I can’t remember for the life of me. By the time I found the hotel I was unimaginably dog-tired, and night had fallen.

The hotel “staff” appeared overly nice. But two things conspired to arouse unease in me. First, they didn’t seem to have a standard price for their rooms. They asked how much I was willing to pay, which was and still is unusual. I called a ridiculously low price for their best rooms and thought they would scoff at me for my chutzpah. But they didn’t. They accepted my price without the slightest hesitation. Second, it seemed to me that the staff exchanged suspiciously evil glances of triumphalism when I agreed to stay in the hotel.

But I was too worn-out to care. I just wanted to rest my head and catch some Z’s. About 30 minutes into my sleep, the lights went out in my room. The heat and discomfort that this produced caused me to wake up. Then I sensed a dead and ominous silence in the entire hotel. Before I went to my room, there was music in the hotel’s lounge and scores of men were playing and talking with the boisterousness that is typical of downscale hotels in Nigeria’s south.

Suddenly, my instincts told me I had been lying right in the jaws of death. I had been ensnared by evilly wily ritual murderers. As I was contemplating the way to escape from my room, I heard the barely audible but nonetheless menacing tiptoes of a bunch of men who spoke in hushed, conspiratorial voices. Their voices became more distinct and more audible as they got closer to the door to my room. Then they suddenly stopped.

One of them said in Yoruba that it was the right time to strike. I felt my heart jump into my mouth. Then it sank back to where it came from. Another man said it didn’t seem that I was sufficiently deeply asleep for a successful operation. The third person agreed and said they should return in an hour.

Having been born and raised in the Baatonu-speaking part of Kwara State that nevertheless shares boundaries with Oyo State, I understand enough Yoruba to understand at least 70 percent of a typical conversation in the language. But my potential killers called me Gambari, the Yoruba name for Hausa people. Of course, with a name like Farooq Adamu (I hadn’t started to bear my family name, Kperogi, at the time) and a Kaduna address, it was easy to mistake me for a “Gambari.”

The moment their conspiratorial whispers and steps receded into nothingness, I plotted my escape. I located my small traveling bag in the pitch-dark room, got hold of the scissors I often used to groom my beard and moustache, took out the glass window shutters (or louvers), tore the mosquito net, and escaped unnoticed.

I was shaken to my very roots. I got on a bus and headed straight to the University of Ibadan and located a students’ hostel. I pleaded with a student to let me spend the night in a small room where four other students slept. He graciously obliged me. The following day, I left for Kaduna with the earliest available vehicle traveling to Kaduna.

For many months after the incident, I was deeply traumatized. I still get the sensation of numbing terror each time I recall the incident. My life would have been cruelly snuffed out by some backward, murderous, superstitious psychopaths because an ignorant, pre-scientif culture tells them that a dead human being’s body parts can be used to mysteriously pluck unspeakable wealth from the air.

This all goes back to the point I made in my March 29, 2014 article about the “closing of the Nigerian mind.” As I pointed out in the article, “unthinking obsession with supernaturalism and metaphysical claptrap is Nigeria’s, nay Africa’s, biggest stumbling-block to progress.”

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Related Topics:Farooq Kperogi featured Ritual Killers

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Business

Breaking: Kellysbookstore opens for business, to push boundaries….

Published

2 years ago

December 13, 2023

Editor

Kellysbookstore, an online bookstore has opened its online store for avid readers all over the world and the CEO of the company ,Miss Opemipo Fabiyi has opened up on why she joined other firms selling books online.

Kellysbookstore, an online bookstore based in Lagos has now officially opened its store and the firm promises to change the way online bookstore operates in Nigeria and other parts of the world. The bookstore according to its President and CEO, Miss Opemipo Fabiyi stocks books from different genres viz; Children, icton,business,religous,non-fiction,biography,classics and so on.

Opemipo whilst speaking to CityNews Newspaper states that Kellysbookstore ”is out to become the number one marketplace for books in Nigeria. Our customers and would-be customers alike can search for a book by title or author using their web browser, add it to their shopping cart, and then purchase it using a debit or credit card transaction. According to Opemeipo ‘we deliver a unique experience to our customers as we have put in place structures that support book lovers who wish to patronise us.We are out to do things differently in our sub-sector”.

Customers can reach on using our different social media handles.

Titbits

Man’s Inhumanity to A Teenage Girl – Olori Janet Afolabi

Published

3 years ago

November 10, 2022

Editor

Labake is a mentally challenged teenager. Two years ago someone took advantage of her condition, impregnated and abandoned her. She was begging for food and money to survive.

The first time l saw her was in October 2020 when she strayed into my event. She was being dragged out by security men when she caught the attention of Kafayat Oyetola, Osun state , First Lady,who was my guest.

The First Lady took Labake to Oshogbo,rehabilited, took care of her till she delivered. Then she brought Labake back to Apomu,headquarters of Isokan local government area of Osun state.

This year again,2022, an unknown man whose name according to Labake is “Operator” impregnated her and disappeared.

On Thursday November 3, l was told Labake was at the Palace gate.I thought it was her usual visit for support. I asked my staff to take some things to her.He came back with a paper and said Labake was crying profusely.

The paper was the Scan result which showed among other things that she had been due since October 24 and the baby’s breech position in her womb posed great danger to her life.The baby’s head was up instead of down.The ideal position for birth is head down.

I asked the security to let her in. When l saw her, l didn’t need to be told that she was in great pain.l called Julius Edet and Moses Bello (both members of the Medical team l set up for my project “Initiative To Stop Teenage Pregnancy,) to come to the Palace .

They took her to the Health Center. After payment was made for registration and tests, the officials said there was no doctor to attend to her.

She was taken to another Health centre.The Matron spoke to me.She said Labake’s condition was beyond them.She advised that Labake be taken to a private hospital or General hospital Oluyoro in Ibadan because the only way she could give birth was through operation.

For me Ibadan was not an option at all because of distance and gridlock.Labake may not have have survived the stress in the condition that she was.

I decided to call Goke Odetunde, Chairman of our local government .He responded immediately.l told him the situation on ground.He said Labake should to be taken to a private hospital in a neighbouring community.
He also paid the bill.

To the glory of Almighty God,the operation was successful.She delivered a baby boy.Mother and child are alive.

But the journey to save Labake has not ended.I would like to rehabilitate and provide a secured shelter for her.She can then acquire a skill or start a trade.

I want to thank the Chairman for the rapid response and kind gesture.Julius and Moses for devoting their time and attention to be with Labake throughout her agonising hours.

I want to appeal to the men who keep talking advantage of Labake’s mental condition to sexually harrass/ abuse/ impregnate her, to desist. If she were your sister or daughter l do not think you will be happy if someone does that to her.

Most likely, you would describe such action as man’s inhumanity to a vulnerable teenager girl.

Olori Janet Afolabi is a CNN Award Winning Journalist, Author and Queen of Apomu Land.

Titbits

What You Should Know About King Charles III

Published

3 years ago

September 9, 2022

Editor

Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch in British history recently died at the age of 96, according to a statement by Buckingham Palace.

Following the demise of the queen, she is expected to be succeeded by Prince Charles, the eldest of her four children with her late husband, Prince Philip.

Prince Charles III also known as Charles Philip Arthur George was born on 14 November 1948 and was heir and Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay from 1952. As the oldest and the longest-serving heir apparent in British history, he has since held the title from July 1958.

Early life

As the first grandchild of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, he was born in Buckingham Palace and attended Cheam and Gordonstoun schools, just like his father, Prince Phillip before furthering at the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia.

He became the Prince of Wales in 1969, among other royal titles, after he had spent a term at the University College of Wales at Aberystwyth, where he learned to speak Welsh. Two years later, Charles took his seat in the House of Lords, the upper house of the parliament of the United Kingdom.

Upon earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cambridge, Charles served in the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy from 1971 to 1976.

Family and personal life

In 1981, Charles married Lady Diana Spencer, who became the Princess of Wales and together, they had two sons, William and Harry, who are second and sixth in line to the throne.

In 1992, the couple agreed to separate in late 1992, and their marriage was dissolved about four years later.

In 2005, Charles married Camilla, who became known as the Duchess of Cornwall and the couple lived together in Clarence House, a British royal residence on The Mall in London. However, they are expected to move into Buckingham Palace now that he is king.

Charles has five grandchildren from both of his sons.

Special interests

With a particular focus on global sustainability, he has spearheaded a number of initiatives and charitable work over the years.

In 2007, he started an initiative called Mosaic, which offers mentoring programs to young people growing up in deprived communities.

In 2010, he also launched the Campaign for Wool to promote awareness of the environmental benefits of wool and expand the market for British sheep farmers who are struggling to make ends meet.

Charles and Camilla, 75, are also expected to be coronated side-by-side, per Elizabeth’s request that Camilla becomes queen consort – the title given to the wife of a reigning king.