I saw an article on scary stories, so I thought to myself, “wouldn’t this be interesting from the Nigerian POV?” I decided I’d ask a few of my coworkers to share some stories they’ve heard about or experienced. Here are their stories:
Kayode
“My dog was barking on a rainy night and there was a man coming down the road. My mum saw that he was my dad’s friend, so she asked the dog to come back in. The next day, we found out that this friend had already died a couple of days before my mum saw him. My mum said, “Tokunbo lo wa fi ara won (Tokunbo has come to show himself).” Which is from a Yoruba saying that explains that after a person dies, they show themselves to their loved ones.”
Ben
I was traveling by night bus from Onitsha to Abuja in 1999 and by 2 am, we saw a white figure ahead of us. Everybody in the bus screamed, “Jesus, Jesus” continuously until the driver drove through the figure. When we got to Lokoja, I asked the driver why he didn’t swerve instead of going straight into it. He explained that he had experienced this enough times to know that if we had swerved, the car would have crashed.
10 years later, my mum returned from a shopping trip in Kano and I had to pick her up from Area 1. On my way from Apo, I had to drive past the cemetery. There, I saw that exact figure in white from before and I immediately remembered what the driver had told me. I drove into it and it felt like I had hit something, but I just kept driving.”
Uche
“I have a friend whose mother welcomed her husband from work one day. A few minutes after he left, she got a call to learn that her husband was involved in an accident hours before and had passed away. There was also a woman outside whose baby started to cry uncontrollably. They believe the baby could also feel the presence of her husband.”
Umar
“I had a very young and energetic friend whose parents were also friends with mine. He had an open wound that lasted 3 years. He tried everything possible, from modern to traditional medicine, but there was no cure. This last time, he wanted to try to get a cure so he was traveling, but before he traveled, he came to visit me and we talked a lot. Unfortunately, the wound got worse after he traveled and he died after he visited the native doctor.
When his casket was brought, it was really difficult to lift and it felt like it was nailed to the ground. After they eventually lifted it and put it in the ambulance, it refused to start. Many religious leaders came to help figure out what the problem was, but they couldn’t. So they had to invite another black magic expert who said my friend’s spirit was upset. Suddenly, the windscreen of the ambulance cracked and people ran away.
The ones who remained tried to pray but nothing happened. The black magic expert then invited my friend’s siblings to come forward. They were scared and crying, but they did come forward anyway. He started talking to the corpse and pleading with it to let them move the car. Heavy rain suddenly started and at past 8 in the night, the ambulance started. According to the black magic expert, this all happened because he didn’t die a natural death.”
I personally do not believe in the supernatural, but if you do, kindly share your experiences or those of people you know.
