My First Experience of Juju (Black Magic)

Do you believe in Juju? Personally, I still don't believe in it, but I would like to narrate a story to you which happened about 18 years ago. I believe you give anything power over you when you believe in it, so I like to tell people I do not believe in black magic. The truth is that I do recognize that there is some form spiritual powers out there, but I also believe that we all have powers too. If you let your guard down, and start believing some spiritual forces can harm you, you have just relinquished YOUR powers to it, and made yourself an easy target. I take full responsibility for any bad events that come to my life because I believe we are a result of our past thoughts and actions. This helps me eliminate any beliefs that their are evil forces working towards stopping me from achieving my goals in life. Okay, I think I am going round and round in a circle, let me just go straight to the story.

I was about 15 years old, and we had a burial to attend in Ayepe (a village in Ijebu Ode/Ogun Sate). Me, my siblings and my cousins all cramped ourselves up in my Dad's red Mercedes Benz 200, and headed out around mid-day. The journey took just about an hour. This was around 1995, before Lagos Ibadan became prime real estate for most church camp sites.






All the formal parts of the burial ceremony had already been performed before we got there, and it was time for merriment. As you know, Ijebu people like to party, so it was a feast. You also know Ijebu people are known for something else, which happens to be the topic I am writing about.

I've always liked to keep to myself, and while I was sitting in a corner, looking around for anything interesting to feed my eyes, I heard some men in white arguing with a lady. I looked around and it was like I was the only one seeing this because no one else was looking that way. I knew the lady as one of our relatives, so i moved closer. I heard them arguing about schnapps and some money or so. The lady was bickering with the men, repeating the words- 'Ko sin nko ti ele se' (there is nothing you can do) several times. I watched my steps as I got closer; it had rained earlier, and the dirt road was all muddy. The lady walked off, and the men walked into a bungalow close by. As a very inquisitive kid, I followed them in. I was wearing white on white, just like they were, so it was easy for me to blend in.





Two of the men went into an inner room, and the other two dragged a sort of wide metallic bucket from under a table (I can't really remember how the container looked) in the center of the room. The other two men hurried back out with something in their hands. I wanted to run out, as I was fearful of what they would do to me if they saw me, but my curiosity to find out what was happening didn't let me leave. I blended with the white painted wall, and watched as they shouted out some incantations. After about 3 minutes, they pulled a material they had placed on the bucket, and immediately thy did that, rain started falling outside. People were running for cover all over, and I used that to quickly make my way out the room.




I later discovered that they were the rain-holders (I don't know if that's the right term to use to qualify them), and weren't paid well, so they withdrew their services. I had seen most of what they had done with my own eyes, and it became scary to me. I watched people run helter-skelter as the rain came down heavy. It was frightening that I knew the perpetrators of the act. What was more frightening was how I was going to tell anyone about what had just happened. Thank God I didn't have to. I stood at a distance and watched the bungalow, till I saw an elderly man approaching the place. He walked briskly like he knew what had just happened. After a couple of minutes, he came out with the four men. They started scanning the area, and I took off before their eyes came to where I was.




"Olumide!" I heard someone call my name, and it made me jump. I blinked the rain water out my eyes, and saw it was my cousin. She asked me where I had been, and I lied that I needed to get something in car, and couldn't get it open. She volunteered to help, and we headed towards the car; walking at the edge of the house, dodging the rain as much as we could. As we passed the front of the bungalow, I looked up, and saw the men pointing at something or someone. I followed their gaze, and saw it was my Mom they were pointing at. My brain went to walk immediately. My Mom had the same physique as the woman they had been arguing with earlier, and the fact that everyone from our side of the family had the same dress-type on, it convinced them that my mom was the person they were looking for.




I dashed off into the rain, living my cousin wondering if I had gone mad. I quickly narrated the story to my Mom, and without asking one question further, she quickly followed me back to where the men were standing. She approached them with a cheerful smile, and asked if they wanted anything. They looked at each-other; confused, and wondering if this was the same person they had a problem with earlier. My Mom quickly called one of my uncle's to get her Schnapps for the old men, and also some food. They smiled and greeted my Mom warmly. She stayed there till everything needed was given to the men, and they thanked her before going in. A few minutes after they went back into the bungalow, the rain stopped.






My Mom begged the lady that the men had been arguing with to go and apologize to the men, but she got even angrier, and started shouting at at every one in the village; calling them names. Lashing out at everyone; young and old. A couple of weeks after that day, the lady died in a car accident along Lagos-Ibadan express. She was the only one that died in the crash. I am not saying there is black magic out there, I just wanted to narrate this story and get some feedback from people. What do you believe really happened? By the way, this story is 100% truth, and not fiction.