THE GRISLY SIGHT

By OMOSEYE BOLAJI

Pandemonium reigned as everybody around reeled with profound shock at the horrific discovery. People gathered at the site not believing what they were seeing...how could the house of God be desecrated in such an unedifying way?

But there was no running away from the evidence before their own eyes. Even as police cars screeched to a halt here at JB Mafora, Mangaung, South African township, tears welled up in many and the dam broke with most people crying inconsolably. And they were not alone.

Even some of the police officers soon joined the fray of those weeping as they contemplated the plight of what had been a full bodied promising young man. Now he had not only been killed in the premises of a Church (Jesus Never Fails Ministry), his body had been mercilessly mutilated, cut to pieces by ruthless miscreants!

Soon it emerged that the murdered and mutilated gentleman was 27-year old Stephen Nakedi. Flaxman Qoopane, a distinguished South African journalist was one of the first people at the scene, before giving me a call. “It was terrible,” he told me. “I have never seen anything like it. The dead man was cut to pieces...it was the first time I would see the police at a scene crying.”

Mr. Flaxman indeed tracked down the family of the poor young man who had been brutally murdered, and it was a terrible interview indeed. All I could do was watch and take in the palpable, heartfelt anger, sorrow and indignation of the community. This was a muti-murder of course.

Muti murder? Yes, what in Nigeria would be called juju or oogun murder, the type Nigerian author, Victor Thorpe made famous in his novel, The Worshippers. But right here in South Africa, this was no fiction – as the police discovered parts of the body of the pertinent murdered young man and arrested some suspects.

Part of the outrage involved the fact that Stephen Nakedi had been murdered in the premises of a church. As South African pastor and author, Thabo Mafike told me: “This is unfortunate, Mr Bolaji. It shows that those people responsible, the evil people who cut Stephen Nakedi to pieces did not have any scruples about killing him at what should be a sacrosanct place. It is very sad!”

Such muti murders do take place in South Africa every now and then, mainly because of the belief that certain choice body parts are useful and can be used by South African sangomas, witch doctors/babalawos, to increase good fortune, a belief alas held in many parts of Africa. But what about the horrific plight of the person unfortunate to be ruthlessly attacked and cut to pieces? Apparently in such cases only a miracle can save the hapless victim.

Such a miracle did happen a couple of years ago in South Africa, in a celebrated case where one night, a young lady was attacked by such muti killers who were about to use their vicious knives and inflict a horrendous painful death on her in a sort of glade. And then a big snake suddenly appeared from nowhere and attacked the attackers, ran for their lives leaving the girl alone! Such a pity that there was no reprieve for poor, poor Stephen Nakedi!