Ex-member recounts that demand to sacrifice his first son made him quit confraternity
His desperation to acquire wealth pushed him to join the Ogboni
confraternity but 15 years after his initiation into the cult, Chris Obi
realized he could only get what he wanted so badly if he surrenders
that which is dear to him, his first son.
Now 54 years old, Obi who is based in Onitsha, Anambra State is bitter
that he has lost 15 of his early years in search of wealth where nothing
is given free. His decision to quit the secret society has not helped
as he claimed that leaders of the group have been all out to destroy
him.
Not ready to keep sealed lips, Obi, who was once a machine operator with
a firm in Onitsha before turning to merchandise, told Saturday Sun that
sweet story of wealth by his friends who are members of the group
encouraged him to stake all he has to join.
According to him: “I joined Ogboni because I wanted to be very rich. I
was deceived by friends. But I was in it for 15 years without getting
any riches. I was only dining with the high and mighty. They were only
feeding me. Whenever we go for meetings, which we call club meetings, I
used to eat sumptuous meals and drink so much. That would make me happy
but once I come back home, I became sad because I was still poor and
couldn’t feed my family.
“Before I was accepted to join the society, I was registered. I even
paid a registration fee. It was about N75,000 that I paid before they
gave me a form to fill. I was asked to supply some personal information
in the form. Such information included the names of my first born, my
wife, my relatives and my age, among others.
“We were also asked to pay for certain things such as gadgets, they cost
N30,000 but I paid only N20,000. I got the money from my contribution
in the firm I was working before I joined the society.
After filling the form, they gave a date for my initiation into the society.”
While giving account of his initiation into the cult, Obi said he was
given a blood-like liquid in a calabash to drink as a mark that he would
keep the secrets of the society, which he is now determined to break
and damn the consequence. “At the initiation venue, they provided a
coffin, covered with a black cloth. I was also given a ring and an
handkerchief among other things I can’t mention here. There were
traditional priests who presided over the initiation. I remember the
priests shouted some incantations which I later understood were warnings
for me that what I was joining wasn’t a child’s play.
After that, they put the ring into my hand and said that it was a
covenant that demands that I keep sealed lips about the activities of
the society. I was also given some liquid in a calabash to drink; the
liquid looked like red wine, but it was very red. I cannot really say
how it tasted. We were many that were initiated that day and we all
drank the red liquid.
When we had taken the drink, we were congratulated and welcomed to the
society with huge promises that we would get all the riches and the
powers that we desired. I went home that day feeling on top of the
world. I was excited that I have found a smart way to be come very
rich”, he stated.
To reassure himself that he was on the right path, Obi would use some of
the magical powers given him through rings and handkerchief. He
explained: “The ring that I was given could be described as both magical
and fetish. I was told that I could just disappear in the face of
danger if I wore it. But it didn’t make me to disappear at any time.
Actually, I never got myself into trouble with anyone because all I
wanted was to be very rich.
So, I did my best to stay out of trouble. The handkerchief did
remarkable things for me. With it I hypnotized people to do my bidding.
For instance, I was able to pay far less than what I bought from sellers
whenever I went to the market to buy things. I could buy things and
ensure my bags are full with foodstuffs and other things with just
N1,000 and I even get some balance from the sellers. The handkerchief
enables me to cheat sellers by getting them hypnotized.”
Not satisfied with those little benefits from the magical powers given
him, frustration began to set in when he could not understand what he
would do to get the real wealth he needed. According to him, “there was
no time I was categorically told how to make wealth or get riches but
each time I asked them when it would happen, they would tell me that I
should just continue to attend the meetings and make effort to get
deeper and know more about the society. They said that in due course I
would find out how to get riches. So, I carried on with them, with the
hope that one day, they would reveal to me how to become rich indeed.”
The beginning of the end, however, began when, on further inquiry on
how to get the desired wealth, he was told that he had to sacrifice his
first son. In his narration, he said “something happened about six years
ago which made me have a second thought about the society and desired
to take a walk from them.
I ran into a member of the society with whom I had been initiated the
same time. That means we were at the same level in the society. I knew
the man to be as wretched as a church rat before our initiation. But
when I met him in 2008, he had become stupendously rich. He rode a very
expensive car and I envied him.
He took me to a big restaurant in Onitsha metropolis and there he bought
me sumptuous meal and drinks worth thousands of naira. When we got
talking, he told me about how rich he had become. He said that he had
built a business empire for himself and dealt with white men in Hong
Kong. The man took me to one of his firms where he prints many fake
documents for several business transactions. He said he wouldn’t get
caught because of his connections with the society.
When I asked him how he struck it rich, that was when he dropped the
bombshell, saying that he had to sacrifice his first son. He said that
thereafter, he continued to kill his other unborn male children from his
wife. He said that whenever his wife was pregnant and was about to give
birth, he would find out the sex of the baby and if it turns out to be a
male, he would use his powers to kill the baby before it would be
delivered.”
The confession of his colleague dropped the scale from his eyes and then
it dawned on him that he needed to take a decision to proceed and do
likewise or take a walk. He eventually chose the latter.
According to Obi: “I was shocked at what he said. He added that he had
built houses both at Onitsha and his village. His confession opened my
eyes to what I was supposed to do to get riches. It became crystal clear
to me that the society expects me to also sacrifice my first son to
become rich and I shuddered at the thought of it. I love my family so
much. They are all I have in the world.
In fact, I wanted to get rich quick so as to give my family the best in
life but it was the same family that was being demanded as sacrifice for
the riches. Suddenly, I began to realize that I was foolish to have
accepted to join the cult for riches. I regretted heeding the advice
from my friends who lured me into it. My friends, particularly the one
who was the general secretary of the society, had deceived me with great
promises of wealth, they had even told me that they saw my father’s
name in the Ogboni membership list when they were checking the names of
past late members. But the scales fell off my eyes with what I
discovered from my colleague who sacrificed his children.”
From that point, he chose to draw the battle line with a group he had
served for 15 years. “Suddenly, I began to hate the society. I couldn’t
make myself to attend the meetings again and I began to burn the fetish
items they gave me. After a few days that they didn’t see me at the
meetings, they sent that my rich friend to me.
He came to ask why I was being absent at meetings and I told him that if
the only way for me to get riches is to sacrifice my family, I was
opting out. He looked angry when I told him that and warned me against
the consequences of quitting the society. A series of persuasions and
threats followed for sometime so as to make me change my mind but I
stood my ground and drew closer to God and was praying fervently.
After a while, I thought they would let me be. But they told me through
their delegation that they wanted to leave me because I had not got
riches through them. They added that my soul would have been demanded by
them if I had got riches before quitting. That means they would have
killed me and captured my soul as punishment.”
He said at the point he was almost relaxing it was all over, the cult
struck. “I thought they had gone out of my life forever when they said
this, little did I know that they were actually planning to get rid of
me gradually. Later that year, 2008, I had a minor accident and it got
my legs swollen. And the legs continued to swell the more.
It defied all kinds of treatment I sought for it. In fact, I attended
many churches for a miracle of healing. I paid tithes, huge offerings
and even bought things for the churches but nothing happened until last
year January when I attended the crusade of the Lord’s Chosen
Charismatic Revival Ministries at Mgbidi where I eventually got my
deliverance from their attack”, Obi stated with a sigh of relief.
Martin’s 8-year-old saw Phelan as she stood over him on the sidewalk, screaming:
