I sat down waiting for my friend to call me for initiation ceremony and like the coming of christ, i waited for the day to come but unlike the coming of christ, the day came sooner than expected. I got a call from my friend and on a monday morning and he told me initiation was on saturday and that i should buy a white singlet and boxers down. I went out and purchased the items. I later got a call on thursday instructing to remain in abraka and they will come get me on friday. I waited on friday and no one came around. I then got a call on saturday around 12 noon that i should meet them at the popular angle 90 bar. I got there and i saw different men sitting down and starring at me with anger and bitterness.
I greeted them and they all echoed ” WHO BE THIS MAN ” Then my friend that was suppose to take me for initiation echoed out ” ABEG NA MY ITJ BE THAT ” . I felt relieved that he came to my rescue. Then i was ordered to get drinks for them which i did. I was then told to take a bottle and drink and forget. I took a bottle of small stout to relieve my stress. One of them came to me and said ” NO WORRY, ALL OF US PASS THROUGH THE PROCESS, NOTHING GO HAPPEN TO YOU, WE NO DIE AND SO YOU NO GO DIE ” My heart pounded fast, I murmured within my self ” AM I REALLY GOING FOR A LIFE AND DEATH JOURNEY ? “.
The time came and we where asked to start moving and we got up and started the movement. I followed my friend who stopped a bike and we took the bike to a lonely bush part. The Bike stopped and we came down and continued on foot. I didnt hear a shit and the part was quiet and lonely…. We saw a guy who walked passed us and he was one of the eye sent to check if something was happening or police was coming. Its considered a Bleep up if police should interfere with an initiation process, it might lead to rebelling and all the members in office will be asked to step down and the process of police interfering can be bloody as the ones with guns at the initiation ground may shoot directly at police men and the police men will respond killing someone of the cultist cursing pain and grief to their families back home and loved ones.
Some of them struggle so hard to send those children to school and they just end up their lives in cult related issues. We got to an open field where we saw some group of men standing and facing the bush part. They where all lined up and asked to face to the bush. They where close to 40 of them. I was then asked to pull off my shirt and trousers and join them. I pulled my shirt and trousers and stood with the 40 intending members just like me and i am sure they also had their stories just like me.
This is just the beginning.
I joined the remaining aspiring members and we faced the bush part . After sometime, we where asked to move in an assembly fashion . Like the slave trade movement , but instead of the metal chains used in real slavery, we where asked to put our hands on each other’s shoulders and move in a uniform fashion . As we moved ,
Cult members echoed : ju ju ju
Aspiring members echoed out : sir sir sir
The process of screaming ju ju ju and sir sir sir continued as we matched on . I heard signs of cassava stems and huge branches of trees cracking up, I raised my head and saw each of the cultist following us holding a stem each. Immediately I received a painful flog directly on my bare back,
“ You dey craze , who say make you carry your head up “
immediately my friend who took me for the initiation became angry and almost fought the guy who flogged me … Immediately I started crying and the thought to run cams into my mind but I had to face the consequences . If I die tonight , my family don’t even know my where about . We where then asked to stop and a guy came around with a piece of paper to take down our names and departments. We then continued our journey . We then got an open field and we where told to lie down . Suddenly I saw a fearfully looking guy with a red regalia , I looked closely , guess what guys ,
IT WAS MY FRIEND IN THE SAME DEPARTMENT.
We will call him kelvin ( not his real name )
I echoed his name :
Kelvin , Kelvin Na me frank … immediately the other cultist pounced on me.
“ You dey craze , call am bros Kelvin “
I was stubborn and immediately I saw a double barrel shotgun facing my end , I then shouted
“Bros , bros , bros. , chairman Kelvin”
They all laughed at me and called me JU.
I then heard “after 0:0 hours , make mending start “ we where told to
Lie down and suddenly we started receiving flogging on our asses . Then I saw someone putting on a black regalia and he came to where we where receiving the flogging of our lives and echoed out “ NO BACK MENDING “ meaning they should not let the stems to touch our backs . We received flogging on our asses for close to 4 hours . Do you understand what it means to receive constant lashing on a particular spot for hours ? I did for five hours . My fellow ju mate close to me pooed on himself . Smelling poo. Another ju guy was shouting he was sick and they overlooked . They came angry thinking the man was pretending , they dragged him out to the center and focused on him while others focused on us. The next thing I heard was
“ THE JU DON LEGGO, HE NO DEY MOVE AGAIN “ then one of the came around and shot his double barrel at the dead man to confirm if he is dead . Immediately they carried him away deep down into the bush . Then the man with he black regalia echoed out,
“ shebi una see that man wey die, if ju misbehave, he go join that man wey die “
This immediately sent a cold sensation down my spine .
The place where we pulled our shirt is called Angle 90
The process we started movement holding our shoulders and responding to ju ju ju using sir sir sir is know as slave trade . The place where we where asked to lie down, is known as ju camp .