By Muhyideen Kolawole
It was already dusked, but of all events that was not only surprising but also scary for the day was that of Abdullah. Like a cow suffering from the pain of pit dragged into, he had screamed to the brim of deafened ears that the world around him was left unalarmed, created fears and terror in the atmosphere – adding to the rarely cascading sound of the dessert nature. It was in the midnight, around 1am on a yet-to-be-good Monday morning of 29th April, 2019 . So silent that the banging heels of the traveling ants could be heard, but the darkened space still had no choice than to bury its arrogance to the solar streetlights – covered only front of the hostel and a true fighter for a see-through dawn in the dusk. All nocturnal beings on toes were either social media addicts – subscribing to hostel Wi-Fi or in a gossip-like friendly chit-chatting. It’s a male hostel though.
Mayhaps sojourn to waterloo seemed a lifetime journey for a lengthy serpent, which had for long been paying homage to the occupant of Bakassi hostel – a friendly visit, they called it. Friendly or not,it seized not to appear again on this dusk-day as usual but unlike before, students around had chose to go by the proverb which says “In the belle of homo-sapiens lies its evil” and had reinforced for a combat as troop on war last lap. Legs not only ran from pole to post but with clarion voice, blocking all routes possible to betray their security-at-all-cost hunting. After several voices had collided with the heating breeze in the space, for some minutes, like an heavier thumb honking the horn of a distance train – a shout of victory bursted out in unison. “One ‘yoruba’ guy has killed the scary snake,” a voice close to where I pitched my bystander tent toned.
‘BAKASSI’ : A Nest In The Sky?
Like every night in Bakassi hostel at Sokoto Varsity – Bakassi hostel is a newly built students’ resident that’s far from the academic core – some minutes from the heart of the main campus, but like a stone-throw to some newly built attention-getting faculties, like ; Veterinary Medicine, Agriculture, Management, Social Science– not excluding the sight of the exotic-looking CBN aided Pro-Metric/ICT. All on either right or left of a just tarred route, linking the University with another road to Niger Republic.
Here in Bakassi, students do hang around under solar street lights with their mats and druggets spread to read. Wi-Fi addicted students also have their position under the service pole or beside soakaway of one of the three amazing uniform two-storey building (hostels) – decked as though a long tennis court. While others exchange banters and engage in hitted-talks on football or politics, Abdullahi was outside also on this snake-doomsday – using Wi-Fi with his friends and some other students from other blocks. It was at the wee-hour and a very big snake crawled towards their direction.
“Yee, snake,” a student shouted, to the peak of his voice like the broken of gramophone. But instead of joining the move to launch attack against the seemingly deadly snake, Abdullahi felt indifferent and told the shouting student to calm down, he said, “this is a normal snake, it will not harm you,”. But the guy – whose name withheld, but known to be a Yoruba by tribe, could bear no more with the situation, panting up and down as though once fell victim of devilish snake bite.
Abdullah And His Friendly Snake
Barely two minutes after the snake had has ‘The End’, lettered on its destitute skull by an inkful hard stone, Abdullah stood motionless as if paying tribute to a fallen heroe. A mysterious hallow and scary screaming forced his seemingly glued lips to let out a deaf-healing sound, and later fell, glaringly uncouncious of how harmful stiletto-like little hardened sand aground might welcome his light-skinned flesh. Has jinn ever possesd student in Danfodiyo varsity? So was the question running to and fro the gizzard of many new but jinn-accustomed students. Of course, it’s never eccentric, but the coincidence left many questions unanswered.
Part of what made it more inquisitive was how possible a bone-aiding human being could demonstrate snake-like on such reddish ground upon falling – serpentining. “As if there is no bone in his body,” a student who took part in the game of snake hunting accentuated with dismay. He continued, “he moves briskly, walking without legs, crawling amidst students standing and looking amazingly while spitting some saliva on the ground like an imbecile”
“The Yoruba guy stoned the snake,” Hall Governor of A Block, Zainul Abideen who also witnessed the incidence narrated, evidencing how surprising the incident was. Another student; Abass Gazali – a spill over Biology student who felt talking with me as only way to express and relieve himself of a never-seen-before wonder, he explained ; “Immediately the Yoruba guy hit the snake with a stone, Abdullahi suddenly shouted and shouted loudly that we were afraid, after that, he was turning like a snake,”
Who Killed Snake?
Interestingly, the snake has been coming and going at the same hour everyday for the past one month, which on daily basis, Abdullahi witnessed it. Three days before the incident – on Friday, Abdullahi’s friend was said to have snapped the snake –using his smartphone camera, during its normal visitation.
“I’ve been seeing the snake every night for the past one month now,” Abdullah after regained normalcy, evidenced the fact that the snake had been coming constantly before its doomsday, he continued : “It will not harm you, I told the stupid Yoruba guy, even, my friend snapped it three days ago,” he explained to me and my curiosity , his face frowned, indicating a great dissatisfaction with the killing of that snake.
Suspiciously, Abdullahi did not merely stop the Yoruba student from killing the snake, after regaining consciousness from the possessed spirit, he also requested for the killer of the snake. “When we told him that the guy has gone back to his hostel, he asked of his room which we didn’t tell him because it’s dangerous, you know!,” Zainul Abideen narrated,noted that immediately he failed to get how the killer of the snake could be traced, he went to sit alone, scratching head with his fingers.
However, nobody can say precisely why Abdullahi was the victim of the snake’s spirit. “I don’t know anything about snake,” he said during a curious interrogation with him, with intention to know perhaps he had any orientation about snake at home or anywhere. He added that he just know that such a snake “can not harm”.
Can ‘Jinn’ Come As Snake ?
As expected, different opinions have trailed the path of the incident– considering coincidence, and mayhaps there exist a nexus between them. To some people, it’s of no iota of doubt – the snake or Abdullah either, one of them must be a respecter of relationship. While virtually minority, believed the incident not too strange – though still skeptical, if ‘Jinn’ – spirit,actually does possess human being in such a way.
It’s never without these controversies that I decided to seek religious perspective, and what has the scripture or tenet as regards. In a conversation with an Islamic Scholar, Dr M. D Shuni ; a lecturer at the department of Islamic Studies of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto – affirmed that Jinn can be in form of snake or dog, but without any outer of conviction, he posited that, there’s likeliness that Abdullahi’s case was different,”It has connection with the Jinn,” Dr. Shuni clarified, but substantiated the fact that ‘Jinn’ can possess through snake spirit. He continued, noting that should there between Abdullah and the snake, one can hardly know ; “This person may not tell you of the relationship between him and the Snake”
“It enters human body when the person lacks protective suplications,” Imams at Bakassi hostel also explained.