And so from the little mermaid inspired creatures to a
potential real life encounter with demons, we count down 10 of the most popular
Nigerian Urban legends
Arguably the most popular horror story for every Nigerian
that passed through a boarding school. So many stories surround this horrific
legend, one even involving our lovely Vivian fowler students or rather just any
girls only boarding school. The most popular however is told as such.
“There was once this very beautiful female teacher in a
boarding school who effortlessly caught the attention of every student &
staff. There’s just something about a stylish woman in a cooperate outfit and
heels. If you sensed a *BUT* coming, then you’re absolutely right. Stunning as
she was, this lady was very wicked towards the students and never hesitated to
blatantly show it. It so happened that upon a certain incident, she was forced
into resignation and on her journey home for school, got into an accident and
died instantly. Transferring that aggression of her death to the student of the
school, she swore to haunt boarding school students and discipline them,
diabolically.”
She’s known for her infamous heel sound as she walks through
the halls “koi koi koi”
9. 9. Whistling
at night
Growing up, If you had a very jolly spirit such as myself,
then you probably can’t count the amount of slaps you’ve received on the back
of your neck from your mother when you whistled a song at night. It is believed
in many homes in Nigeria that whistling or even holding midnight concerts in
your shower at night, would in fact attract snakes. Personally, on this list I
feel has to be the most ridiculous one, like do these creature only hear sounds
at night and do they just appear out of thin air?
But I’m not going to risk it anyway.
8. 8. Bunk shaker
Another boarding school story, there’s a lot of these here.
The bunk shaker is a conjured spirit that lived under the
bunk beds in boarding houses and torments the students occasionally. Lemme just
point out that looking under the bed during day and seeing nothing shouldn’t
put you at rest, these spirits only live there between 2am and 5am. This action
named spirit chooses a specific bunk to shake all through the night with the
hopes that the person at the top decides to come down to check out what’s going
on. In that moment, the bunk shaker would pierce its long fingernails into your
ankles and violently pull you under bed. Your screams and struggles would be
futile as no one in the room would be able to hear anything happening. The bunk
shake would pull you completely under the bed and you will never be heard of again.
Life Hack: always pick the bottom bunk
7. Dream eating
Nigeria is a home to many delicacies. From our brilliant
designed Jollofrice, plantain and chicken to the richening taste of our variety
of traditional soups. But if you come across any of these meals in your dream,
I can advice you to trade only small of your destiny for a tray of suya.
Stories say that food presented to you in your dream comes from a coven of
spirits as a form of initiation. Dream eating is said to led to the depletion
of your destiny in the spirit land having literally eaten it. Think of the
story of Jacob and Esau, except if you’re served peppered snails, then I can’t
even blame you for your actions.
6.
6. Pregnant women
A pregnant woman must not walk around at certain times of the
day,if not,evil spirits will enter her belly in replacement of her actual child.
Imagine you went for an ultra sound to discover you’re having a boy only to
have a female evil spirit replace that child upon birth, that would make a very
awkward gender reveal party.
Another myth is that pregnant women shouldn’t allow anyone
walk over their legs as it may cause the unborn child to resemble that person’s
physical features. So unless you’re Theo Walcott, stay away from my wife’s
legs.
5. 5. Money on
the ground
How many times have you walked past stray money on the ground
and had the thought of giving it a nice home in your pocket? Well you should be
grateful you didn’t go through with it. Your moral bearings didn’t only save
you from eternal damnation, it also preserved your human body as you know it.
The excessive use of demonic powers in Nigeria has led the masses to believe
that simply picking up money from the ground, usually in public places, would
cause your being be transformed into a plant, animal or an inanimate object.
And not even the good kind of animals. I’m talking rat, goat and other stupid
things. With the movies I watched and
stories I heard growing up, I would literally block my view from any money I
see on the ground or even cross the road to avoid eye contact.
4.
4. Your Village people
What the world would refer to a severe stroke of bad-luck,
has some behind the scene actions in Nigeria. The saddening fact that your own
native people might be out to see your downfall isn’t even the scary part, it’s
the way they go about it. Legend believes, the art of dark magic called juju is
seen as a norm in the rural part of Nigeria. Graven images, animals and trees
are often worshipped as gods by villagers and incases of worry are also
confronted for a solution. If a person in the city is perceived as successful,
the distaste and jealousy of his or her native people in the village might go
as far as consulting these gods to seek your sudden badluck. Loss of jobs,
death of loved ones, unforeseen illness and instant paralysis are a few
devastating mechanisms.
And you ask me why I never visit the village, its best they
don’t know I even exist.
3. Bushbaby
Yet another terror to boarding school students.
It is said that the bush baby is an animal that mimics the
sound of a child crying. It comes to the windows of students and starts crying
and if your curiosity gets the best of you and you go to check, it would make
you an offer you can’t refuse. It gives you a shabby looking mat (the legend
says that they all have one), shows you A LOT of money and tells you that if
you can successfully keep the mat in your possession for 7 days, all that money
and much more will be yours. What the creature won’t tell you however is that
during those 7 days, it will try VIOLENTLY to take the mat back from you which,
given it’s magic like powers, will most likely end with your violent death.
2.
2. Mami Water
Disney calls them mermaids. Beautiful half land and half sea
creatures with a voice for days, history and conspiracy books have amazing
tales about them …no pun intended. However, the typical Nigerian woiuld point
this creature out as a MAMI WATER, a malevolent marine creature that is said to
only live in large bodies of water. It is a common practice in certain parts of
the country to appease the mami water by throwing severed goat heads into the
water to satiate it’s blood thirst. When it is not appeased, it is said to lure
humans to the water and then takes them into the unknown.
HONORABLE
MENTIONS
o Food
falls to the ground = Has been touched by the devil himself
o Rebecca
= Boarding house story of a girl with beautiful, only to find out that she
detaches her head to plait her own hair
o Cats and Dogs = Cats are often seen as witches
taking the form of animals, Dogs are thought to see evil spirits and rubbing
their saliva on human eyes would make you see these spirits too
o Zuma
Rock = the contours on this rock in Abuja resembles a human face with
visible features. It is believed that the rock is a gateway to the after life
1. 1. Spirit husband or wife
This is a very widely known legend in Nigeria and a very
believable one.
Often times we read stories from people online about events
that actually took place concerning their partner. Sharp mood swings, strange
behaviors, unexplainable outbursts or even sudden disappearances. The Nigerian
belief, paints this occurrences to be the presence of spirit husbands or wives.
The appearances of ghosts posing as the perfect man/woman, gets romantically
involved with a normal human being.
The song usually plays out like this. Woman finds man, she
falls in love with him and they begin dating. Couple months into the
relationship things get serious when he meets with her family and gets them to
love him too. She now wants to get to know his family but he turns her down
with some excuse. She goes ahead to marry him anyway, being the perfect
gentleman. Soon after a baby comes and then three more. Now married for 7
years, the woman decides she wants to meet his inmmediate family again, this
time regardless of any excuse. He reluctantly agrees to this but says he would
inform them about her visist but he personally wouldn’t be joining her. She
goes anyway and upon getting there, introduces herself as their daughter in
law. The man’s mother broke down in tears and leads the woman to a graveyard,
the graveyard where her son had been buried for the past 12 years.
These spirits don’t even have to appear physically. A happily married man could be introduced to one through his dream and unconsciously begin a relationship with her, this ofcourse would have a much more gruesome ending.
Comments
Post a Comment