Posted by By Chioma Okezie-Okeh on
It all started sometime last year, Muyiden Salami and his friend Nurudeen had long planned that come September 2007 they would be one of richest men in the area.
It all started sometime last year, Muyiden Salami and his friend Nurudeen had long planned that come September 2007 they would be one of richest men in the area.
To achieve that they were requested by an alfa known as Soji Akodia alias Baba Beji to produce human blood. In as much as they wanted to be rich there was need to play safe. Salami picked his target. A 15 year-old-boy known as Riwanu Rasheed living in their area at J4 Garage, Seme border. He got acquainted with his target, and when he was able to get his trust, he took him for sacrifice.
Later when the teen got missing, he still offered to help the family fish out his dear friend who had been lost for more than four days. At the police station he suddenly started singing. " His blood would not let me be. I killed him." He was arrested alongside the Alfa and they are being detained at the Lagos State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti where investigations is still on to fish out his friend Nurudeen who is currently at large.
I wanted to be rich
Disappointed at himself, Salami told Saturday Sun that if he knew his misplaced ambition would turn out this way he would not have tried his hands on spilling blood and "wasting Rasheed".
Narrating the incident, Salami, 35, who hails from Ibadan, said that he was tired of the little he made out of his trade. A friend sometime suggested to him that there is a famous Alfa who could help them out. Accompanied by his friend Nurudeen, they consulted the Alfa who told them that it was possible to get rich quick but it would demand the use of fresh human blood.
He set out to find who could fit into the scene. After fruitless attempts, he noticed Rasheed who was also living in their area at J4 Garage Seme Border. " I became friendly with Rasheed giving him gifts till he trusted so much that when his parents warned him to steer clear of me as I was a bad influence he refused."
Sample
On September 21, Salami asked Rasheed to accompany him to a place where he claimed he wanted to pick up some materials for sale. When they got there, he signaled to the Alfa who observed Rasheed and concluded that he was a good material for the money ritual. " The Baba smiled that the boy had the perfect blood for the sacrifice. He gave my friend Nurudeen a ring and asked him to touch the boy on the shoulder that he would not resist when being butchered." As instructed Nurudeen touched Rasheed's neck and he became dumb. "
He started behaving like a robot, he could not move unless instructed. The Alfa immediately gave us a basin and asked us to kill him like a fowl ensuring that the blood pours into the basin. We took him outside and severed his neck, kept him bending till all the blood dripped into the basin. The Alfa took the basin and made a soap out of it."
Money could not flow
Salami and his friend were asked to use the soap to bath chanting some incantations. "He said we should be calling Rasheed's name and money would start flowing. But we did as instructed and nothing came forth. They went back to the Alfa in anger who asked them to continue with the exercise that money would definitely flow.
When Salami noticed that the dead body of his friend was still lying outside, he asked them to wait till dawn. As a respected Alfa in the area he sent a messenger to tell the entire village that everyone should stay in doors, as he wanted to cleanse the land. The people obeyed him and stayed in doors while he used the opportunity to bury Rasheed. When we were through with the burial he asked us to keep on trying that we would finally succeed."
Friend indeed
When Rasheed's family noticed that he was nowhere to be found, the family organized a search. Salami who happens to be the closest friend was called upon and he swore that he was going to find him wherever he was, as he remains a very good friend. On September 23, he advised the family on the need to rely on the police to help find Rasheed. At the Seme border police station witnesses gave details of when Rasheed was last. As the facts narrowed down to him as the major suspect in the whereabouts of the missing teenager, Salami became jittery, and he started singing. " I killed him. His ghost has been hunting me about. If I do not confess he would kill me. The medicine did not work if I knew that the Alfa was fake I would not have wasted Rasheed".
It is true
Visibly shaking, as he is yet to come to terms that his power failed him, the 45-year-old alfa confirmed Salami confession. " All he said is true", the Alfa who hails from Cotonou confessed that he is a powerful native doctor respected in his area. Asked why the medicine failed he said that Salami and his friend did not follow the right procedure. He was actually waiting for them when the police came and arrested him. On how much he was paid, he said that they were on an oath that after the success of the ritual he would be paid heavily.