REPORT: Strange Apartment Discovered In Ogun That Serves As Shrine For Ritualists (PHOTO)
The
bus stop was Tobi and from there, the reporter had to walk for another
two hours before he found the strange underground: He had to climb down a
few steps from the top of a decked building before accessing the
strange place which instantly instilled fear into a first time caller,
no thanks to the fetish images and items that occupied everywhere.
Following an outcry by residents of the community that a ritualists’ den was found in the outskirts of the community, the reporter visited the place in a bid to investigate the allegation. The residents expressed differing opinions about the strange underground facility. Some said it is a den for ritualists who kidnap their victims and behead them for money-making rituals in the place.
Those who insisted on this allegation said that the operators of the underground building are usually consulted by big men to kidnap people and bring them into the place for the rituals. They added that the fetish materials
found in the underground apartment further confirmed their fears about the rituals allegedly going on there.
One of those who held this view, who simply identified himself as Oke, told Daily Sun: “We have been wondering what was responsible for the mysterious disappearance of people and children in the community. Now, we know the cause. That underground place must have been the den of kidnappers who abduct people for the big men in our country.
The kidnappers usually disguise as commercial drivers and pick people on the road and blindfold them and take them to underground buildings like this so as to use them for money-making rituals. You see blood everywhere in the underground buildings. You also see many fetish items which they use to perform their evil enterprises. God has decided to expose them, that is why we discovered it this time.”
However, a different opinion was expressed by others who claim they are the real natives of the community. They insisted that the strange images and items found in the underground buildings were mere religious items for traditional practices.
Dismissing the allegation that the underground is a den for money-making rituals, they maintained that it is just a haven created by the traditionalists to worship their gods. According to them, those who own the underground apartment worship gods like Ogun, Sango, Obatala, Ifa and Osun, among others.
“It baffles me why anyone would brand that place as a den of ritualists or a hideout for criminals. Did you see any ammunition there when you visited,” a man who identified himself as a traditional priest in the community but who craved anonymity, told the reporter. “If you are a Yoruba man who is close to our roots and tradition, you would have found out that the items and images found in the underground buildings were mere worship items for our religious practices. The shrine you found outside the first building and which was dressed in palm fronds is a shrine dedicated to Ogun, the Yoruba god of iron and protector of the human race. It has to be placed there at the entrance for protection.
“The sculptures inside are mere sculptural images or representations of our gods in Yoruba land. The one that stands out is the Oduduwa image; that is the progenitor of the Yoruba race. You also see moulds painted in white and having their backgrounds dressed in white wrappers. Those are Ifa items. Ifa is the one who reveals all truths about mankind, it is the diviner. The inscriptions on them are indicators to this assertion.
The blood you see on the other shrines in the underground are of animals; they can’t be human blood. Gone are the days when human blood was used for sacrifices meant to deliver people from their bondages. And tell me, if the sacrifices carried out with those blood-smeared items are meant for liberating people from other wicked peoples’ bondage, how can it be human blood? It is also not true that human beings vanish in this community.
I have been living here for many years and can’t remember a time it was brought to our notice that people vanish anyhow. So, that allegation is far from being true, it is just an idle man’s ranting.’
The traditional ruler of the community, Oba Sunday Ezekiel disowned the underground facility when contacted to comment on it. He said he couldn’t remember a time anyone told him of the existence of an underground facility meant for the practice of traditional religion in the community.
His words: “It is true that we worship our forebears as a traditional practice, but we don’t hide it. I don’t know that such a place exists. Some have said that it is used by those who dupe people by pretending to be traditionalists.
Others said it is a place where ritualists hide their victims and use them for money-making rituals, yet some said that robbers hide their guns in the underground apartment. They have even reported to the police and we also informed the police about it. They have come to inspect the place. So, all we want to say is that we don’t want a place like that in this community. That is why we sent our men to destroy the place when news of its discovery broke.”
Following an outcry by residents of the community that a ritualists’ den was found in the outskirts of the community, the reporter visited the place in a bid to investigate the allegation. The residents expressed differing opinions about the strange underground facility. Some said it is a den for ritualists who kidnap their victims and behead them for money-making rituals in the place.
Those who insisted on this allegation said that the operators of the underground building are usually consulted by big men to kidnap people and bring them into the place for the rituals. They added that the fetish materials
found in the underground apartment further confirmed their fears about the rituals allegedly going on there.
One of those who held this view, who simply identified himself as Oke, told Daily Sun: “We have been wondering what was responsible for the mysterious disappearance of people and children in the community. Now, we know the cause. That underground place must have been the den of kidnappers who abduct people for the big men in our country.
The kidnappers usually disguise as commercial drivers and pick people on the road and blindfold them and take them to underground buildings like this so as to use them for money-making rituals. You see blood everywhere in the underground buildings. You also see many fetish items which they use to perform their evil enterprises. God has decided to expose them, that is why we discovered it this time.”
However, a different opinion was expressed by others who claim they are the real natives of the community. They insisted that the strange images and items found in the underground buildings were mere religious items for traditional practices.
Dismissing the allegation that the underground is a den for money-making rituals, they maintained that it is just a haven created by the traditionalists to worship their gods. According to them, those who own the underground apartment worship gods like Ogun, Sango, Obatala, Ifa and Osun, among others.
“It baffles me why anyone would brand that place as a den of ritualists or a hideout for criminals. Did you see any ammunition there when you visited,” a man who identified himself as a traditional priest in the community but who craved anonymity, told the reporter. “If you are a Yoruba man who is close to our roots and tradition, you would have found out that the items and images found in the underground buildings were mere worship items for our religious practices. The shrine you found outside the first building and which was dressed in palm fronds is a shrine dedicated to Ogun, the Yoruba god of iron and protector of the human race. It has to be placed there at the entrance for protection.
“The sculptures inside are mere sculptural images or representations of our gods in Yoruba land. The one that stands out is the Oduduwa image; that is the progenitor of the Yoruba race. You also see moulds painted in white and having their backgrounds dressed in white wrappers. Those are Ifa items. Ifa is the one who reveals all truths about mankind, it is the diviner. The inscriptions on them are indicators to this assertion.
The blood you see on the other shrines in the underground are of animals; they can’t be human blood. Gone are the days when human blood was used for sacrifices meant to deliver people from their bondages. And tell me, if the sacrifices carried out with those blood-smeared items are meant for liberating people from other wicked peoples’ bondage, how can it be human blood? It is also not true that human beings vanish in this community.
I have been living here for many years and can’t remember a time it was brought to our notice that people vanish anyhow. So, that allegation is far from being true, it is just an idle man’s ranting.’
The traditional ruler of the community, Oba Sunday Ezekiel disowned the underground facility when contacted to comment on it. He said he couldn’t remember a time anyone told him of the existence of an underground facility meant for the practice of traditional religion in the community.
His words: “It is true that we worship our forebears as a traditional practice, but we don’t hide it. I don’t know that such a place exists. Some have said that it is used by those who dupe people by pretending to be traditionalists.
Others said it is a place where ritualists hide their victims and use them for money-making rituals, yet some said that robbers hide their guns in the underground apartment. They have even reported to the police and we also informed the police about it. They have come to inspect the place. So, all we want to say is that we don’t want a place like that in this community. That is why we sent our men to destroy the place when news of its discovery broke.”
