SANTOS PART 1 – Patricia Shine
All I have always wanted was to be rich and
famous. I had a strong desire for money, fame
and power. Being a boy of only 16 years old, I
would admire the big boys, those who drove big
cars and lived in big houses.
My name is Santos and I wanted money so badly.
Maybe due to the fact that I was raised in a poor
home. My father was not well to do, as he was
just an ordinary welder who was in his late 50s.
My mother fried Akara in the morning and
roasted corn during the evening by the roadside.
Both I and my siblings never had the privilege to
enjoy the good things of life.
However we lived happily in our one room
apartment, at least we could afford to eat 2
Square meals a day, and any day things went well
for our parents we ate thrice.
But all this changed when I finished High school
and entered the labour market, I began to see
things and experienced people. Little by little I
started having the urge to become wealthy, for all
I wanted was to remove my family from the chain
of poverty.
I struggled and hustled in the Labour Market for
years, I grew from just being a teenage boy into a
man, I worked myself to the bones everyday of
my life with the urge to just become rich and get
my family out of poverty.
Years passed on, and it seemed as if all my
efforts were vain. I watched my mates excel, but
for no reasons I couldn’t just go beyond being an
ordinary labourer.
Everyday of my life was filled with agony, I came
across people who loved me for my hard work
and sincerity, but for no reason none of them
thought of giving me the kind of help I desired.
The chain of poverty is a Strong one that
required a strong and determined man to break.
Things got tough and rough for I and my family,
the country’s economy changed and the change
hit us so hard. We took in blows from the rash
situation that it sent our father to an early grave,
and also did the same to my immediate elder
sister 2 years after. I and the rest of my family
kept on living in prayers and hard labour.
Things weren’t just working, it got to a point that I
left my home in Lagos and travelled down to
Benin on the invitation of a friend, I was
introduced into yahoo, I joined my friend and his
gang and started living a tip of the kind of life I
always wanted.
In no time I started sending money to my family,
and even bought them a very big house, when my
mom inquired to know about this my new job
that has been bringing money to them for 6
months now, I lied that I was now a software
developer, whatever that meant my mother never
understood , since she was an illiterate. But, she
and the rest of my siblings were happy, things
became stable financially, and for once in our
lives Lines were falling in pleasant places.
A year passed and my clients continued to pay
me in the little ways they could, but as the saying
goes “money is never enough, as one will still
want more of it” besides sometimes it was hard
getting clients to pay.
Moreover, the money wasn’t enough to sustain
my standards of living cause the only thing I and
my friends did was to go to clubs and squander
the money, buy the latest iPhone, wear expensive
clothes and jewelries, eat out In expensive
restaurants, ride the latest cars, spend on our
girls and send money home to our families,
claiming to have business investments.
That was our lives routine. No time sooner was
my heart troubled again, and a friend of mine
who I had met at one of our social gathering
decided to help me top up my game and lifestyle.
Three days later we set out on a Friday morning
for ijebu-ode to meet a spiritual man who was
well known for helping young boys acquire
wealth. We got to the place after a long walk
through a very bushy and quiet road.
The ‘Baba’ as they called him came in after few
minutes we settled in, he and my friend
exchanged pleasantries and stepped out to talk, I
could see this my friend pointing towards me
while the Baba just kept on nodding his head in
agreement, after their brief conversation they
both came back to join me.
The Baba spoke in the yoruba dialect he asked
me if I want great wealth, I nodded and told him
yes.
He took I and my friend into a room and asked us
to take off our clothes, I was surprised why he
would also asked my friend, and I quickly
muttered to my friend “I thought it was just me”
my friend smiled and said that he too would also
like to Up his lifestyle too. I somehow felt
relieved and confident since I won’t be going
through the process alone.
We took off our clothes, and this Baba took us
into another inner room, a room more terrifying
than the other two rooms we were previously.
He carried a big calabash, gave I and my friend a
black small ball made out of something I
assumed to be mud and asked us to put it in our
mouth, he said we shouldn’t say a word until he
asked us to.
Baba started doing all forms of incantations, he
took a knife, cut the palm of our hands and
allowed the blood flow into the calabash.
Then he asked us to get up, he then told me to
enter into a coffin, and asked my friend to enter
into a big black pot which had fire burning
underneath and a boiling water in it. My friend
didn’t even show any form of reluctancy nor did
he object to the demands. He quickly jumped in,
the boiling water seemed not to hurt him, he then
signaled me to get into the coffin. I was reluctant
at first, but then I couldn’t object, afterall, we have
to finish what we started. I got into the coffin,
layed down, Baba quietly rubbed something on
my face and shut the coffin.
Everywhere was dark and the only thing I could
hear was my heart beating so fast. And then I
drifted away into what I would call sleep.
The light that shone so bright woke me up from
my slumber, It felt as if I had been asleep for
ages. My eyes opened up gradually, and the first
thing I could see was the face of a man, he was a
stranger. At the sight of me waking up, the man
got frightened and took to his heels, I quickly got
up from the coffin scared only to see that I was
alone in what seemed like a deserted and bushy
land.
I was confused by what was happening, cause
the last thing I remembered was following my
friend to a Baba place who he said was going to
make me wealthy.
I didn’t know what to do, I stood there totally
naked with the feeling that I had lost my mind.
So many thoughts came running in, I thought
about my friend, I thought about the Baba we had
gone to see, I thought about my mother and my
siblings, I was totally confused. I walked around
searching and calling this Baba and the name of
my friend, but then it dawned on me that I might
be the only one in this Bush.
I began to walk about aimlessly and confused, I
didn’t know what time it is, what date it was or
what year we were in, but one thing I knew was
that my beared had grown so long and bushy, I
sobbed silently making my way down the road
not even sure of where I was headed.
I walked a very long distance until I finally came
out in a main road which seemed a bit busy, I
kept on walking noticing the stare I got from
people, I even tried talking to some people but
they just ran away calling me mad. I walked
another distance until I sighted a house, since it
was getting late I decided to go over and ask for
help.
At the sight of me the elderly man who was
sitting outside stood up curiously, he walked
hastily towards me while throwing questions, a
woman also came out immediately following
behind this man who I presumed to be her
husband, they both shouted at me trying to hit
me with sticks and whatever they could find
asking me to leave their compound.
I kept on pleading, telling them that I was not
mad, after so much persistent, and the way I
spoke and reacted they came to believe that I
was not mad. The man then asked me to come
and he offered me a sit, while his wife stood by
his side still looking unsettled.
I began to narrate something totally different
from what had happened…
I couldn’t bring myself to tell them the truth that I had embarked on a mission with my friend to do money rituals, I was scared that if I did they will send me away. Instead I told them that I was kidnapped amongst many others, but I managed to escape.
They somehow believed and felt pity for me. They both spoke in their igbo dialect, on hearing them I was forced to asked where I was. The man told me that I was in Owerri, Imo state. I could not believe my ears, little did I know that more shocking information was about to be revealed.
I went on to ask him what today’s date is, he then told me 25th of April 2023, I almost fainted, I became traumatised, I did a quick calculation in my head, and it dawned on me that I have been away from home for a year and 3 months, asleep in a strange place inside a coffi n. I couldn’t just phantom it. It was then I knew that my life is in a big mess.
However, the man and his wife were kind enough to give me food and off ered that I spend the night in their house since it was late already. I was given a room, that night I kept on turning and tossing, I couldn’t sleep, afterall I had been asleep for a year and 3 months.
So many thoughts kept creeping into my head, I tried to imagined what had happened, the last place I remembered being was that Baba shrine at ijebu-Ode, so what was I doing in Owerri? What about my friend? What transpired? What about my mother and my siblings?
So many thoughts and questions kept coming in till it was dawn. I was given water to bath, food to eat and a proper clothes to wear. Later on this man came and gave me 300 hundred naira, he directed me to a barber’s shop and asked me to go get a hair cut and shave off my beard, I collected the money and thanked him. I quickly went off to get the hair cut, shaved off my beard and I was back in no time.
I and this my good samaritan talked for a very long time, he kept asking me tons of questions while I kept answering. After a very long questions and answers section, I summoned the courage to tell him the truth, I narrated everything that had happened, I told him how I had suff ered so much, how I wanted money so badly, how I accepted my friend invitation to come over to Benin and I became a yahoo boy, I told him how I started living large and how I wasn’t still satisfi ed. I then told him how one of my friend took me to Ijebu-Ode to see a spiritual man who was going to help me become rich, and how the last thing I remembered was fallen asleep in a coffi n in the man’s shrine, and waking up in the same coffi n but in another land.
The man stared at me without saying a word, the only thing he could say was “Children of nowadays, what won’t they do for money?”
He got dressed and went out, he told me that he was going out for work and that he will be back.
While he was gone, I helped his wife pieces all the wood she had brought back from their farm, atleast I knew how to make wood for fi re due to the fact that my mother was once a Akara seller.
I also helped her with some household chores, since they had just a little boy living with them and the chores seemed way too much for just she and the boy. She was really grateful that I helped.
Later she prepared food and also gave me a very large portion, I was so happy and thanked her for their kindness towards me. I asked her if they had no children, but she told me that they did, but their children were all grown and they all lived in the city, and that the little boy was her grandson.
She also asked me about my family, I told her about my mother and siblings, and how we had lost our father, and my immediate elder sister, she shook her head in sympathy and paid condolence. I told her not to worry, that all was in the past.
Evening came and my good samaritan came home, we all welcomed him. He then told me that tomorrow I will go with him to see his pastor, and that he had spoken to the man about me. I agreed to go with him, afterall I had no choice.
Morning quickly came, I bathed, was also served breakfast and off we both went to see his pastor. We got to a very big building, and we were asked to wait that the man of God will see us soon. We waited patiently until a man who we had met earlier signaled us that Papa will see us now.
We entered into his offi ce, and the pastor and my good samaritan exchanged pleasantries, the ‘Papa’ like they called him asked us to have our sit. He shook hands with me while asking me my name, immediately our hands touched I screamed, I felt fi re burn through me, I fell to the ground, the guy we had met outside previously quickly rushed in asking if everything was fi ne, the pastor told him everything was OK and that he should help me to my chair. He did and then left.
The pastor then asked me what my name was again but this time with a smile not a handshake, while still a bit unsettled from what just happened, I told him my name is Santos.
He then went on to tell me, that my good Samaritan here had told him everything that happened to me, I nodded in agreement. He then stretched forth his hands and asked that we should pray, I was reluctant, but he assured me that it is fi ne, I then held his hands but nothing happened, I let my breath out heavily and closed my eyes, and this man of God began to pray, he prayed for just a few minutes and then became silent for what seemed like a long period of time.
He opened his eyes and then let my hands go. He then looked at me and he began to speak.
He told me that I won’t believe what he saw, I sat up straight in curiosity. He told me that my friend who took me to meet the Baba had infact used me for ritual to step Up his own game and lifestyle. He
told me that the Baba had requested for a human for sacrifi ce, and that since he saw I was a bit naive and eager to make more money he decided to lie to me so that I could follow him, thinking that he was about to help me.
He said that everything had been planned before hand by my friend and the Baba.
And that was the reason why my friend was asked to enter into a pot, while I was asked to enter into a coffi n, he then told me that infact my friend had spent just a day in that boiling Pot of water.
He then told me that, the ritual was that I would be in the coffi n for a long period of time, and when it was time for me to fi nally wake up, they would carry me to a faraway land and dump me there, and if I eventually wake up I will go mad after 7days. He then said that God has a diff erent plan for me, that is the reason why He allowed Papa Obinna (my good samaritan) to believe me and take me in.
I was indeed shocked. I asked him about my friend, he told me that my friend has been living in
wealth since the very day the ritual took place, he said so long I had been in that coffi n, that my friend has been using my glory, he also went on to tell me that the thing is that when I run mad after 7days, that my friend will burst into great wealth and if I eventually die while being mad, that, that was the end, he said my friend will be so wealthy, and that all that was supposed to be mine will be his.
I asked him if I will go mad, he assured me that since I have come to God for help, nothing like that will happen, I felt relieved a bit.
He then told me that I will go back home, but before I do I will have to come stay in church, and he will join me in fasting and prayer, I agreed, he said that was all. He then called on the man we had met outside earlier, he told him to take me to the prayer centre, I stood up and followed him bidding Papa Obinna goodbye.
The 7 days of prayer and fasting was indeed an intense one, I vomited all manner of things, which the pastor confi rmed that, that was all the
nonsense I was being fed by that so called spiritual man.
The man of God then asked me to go back home, he said victory is mine already, he then followed me to Papa Obinna’s house where we prayed for my safe journey, he and papa Obinna both wrote their contact in a piece of paper.
To be Continued…
#OpraDre SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS SANTOS
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