Doctor Freaks Journal - Superstitions

This is scary!!!

"Superstition" is defined as "a belief that is not based on human reason or scientific knowledge, but is connected with old ideas about magic, etc." Cambridge Dictionary.

Do I believe in superstitions?

 Please fasten your seat belt as I take you on a cruise.

 If my memory serves me correctly, it happened six (6) years ago, a good friend of mine had just lost his father and it was funeral time. The man in question died in his late seventies so it was with mixed feelings that we all looked forward to the event. For us, friends, it was a time to party; but for our friend it was a time to mourn and spend money, or maybe get sprayed too. We all know how expensive Nigerian funerals can be.


The funeral took place on a Friday somewhere in the South West (name withheld, for obvious reasons.) I had a very serious matter in the Federal High Court, Lagos so I couldn't move with the convoy early in the morning. As soon as I was done with my case, I hurriedly set out for the event. I think I left Lagos as late as 3.00pm.

 The journey was smooth until I started approaching Ogere Toll Gate, that is the toll gate between Lagos and Ibadan. The car started acting up as it could no longer do more than 40 kilometres per hour. I suspected that the problem was with the fuel filter. Oh, that Toyota Corolla dealt with me. I had cause to change the fuel filter close to eight (8) times in eighteen (18) months. A story for another day right? 

I managed to drive to Ogere where I met a guy who was introduced to me as a Toyota mechanic. I already knew what the problem was so I just told him what to do. He was able to bring out the faulty part under thirty minutes but the bad news was that he had to travel to Abeokuta to get the part and he had to go on a motorbike. I mobilised him and had to wait for close to 2 hours. By the time the mechanic would finish the job, it was almost 7.00pm and where I was going was about four (4) hours away. In any event, I was unstoppable.


For obvious reasons, I refused to update any of my friends. The only person I confided in that I was on the road at that time of the day was my immediate elder brother. That dude loves night journeys!


Eventually, I got to my destination as late as few minutes past 11.00pm. All my friends were so shocked to see me. It was party time and mind you, I still had my white shirt and black and grey pinstripe trousers on and I could not even wait to change into the "ankara aso-ębi" but who cares! I had fun and by the time the party was over at about 1.00pm, I was led into my hotel room.


The hotel was massive and we had even teased the owner and queried his choice of citing such a massive hotel in that village. He strenuously attempted to defend his choice though, but I later gathered that he worked with one of the juicy Government Agencies. Everything about my room seemed normal until few minutes into my sleep.


I was too tired to go beyond changing into my pajamas and tucking myself inside the duvet. Few minutes into my sleep, I had this strange encounter. To a sane mind, what I experienced would have qualified as a nightmare, but hell no, to me it was more than that. A strange being actually came into that room and attempted to strangulate me.

 Thank God for the gift of being able to pray in my sleep. I have been around for some time and I have experienced nightmares but believe me, this was not one of such. By the time I woke up I could hear a physical movement really as the being was hurriedly bolting away. I got up from the bed, hurried to the door and discovered that it was bolted and that I was alone in the room, at least physically.

 At this point, I became even more worried. I looked at the time, it was just past 2.00 in the morning. It was too late to start running around knocking on the doors of my friends so I slept off again. Few minutes into my sleep again, I had a similar experience and the struggle so was fierce this time around as I fought back. It was a surreal experience. Did all of this happen in my dream? Did it happen physically? I honestly cannot say. But trust me, the movement around that room was physical and so real.


At that point, I remembered my B&H Switch (then I was still in the world). I lit one stick and left the room to sit on the balcony for the rest of the night. I actually almost finished a pack before voices started filtering in from my friends' rooms. I quietly went to one of the rooms to catch some sleep before departure time.


Strangely enough, I have never shared the experience with anyone before this moment. I am still asking myself up till this moment. What could have happened to me that night? Could it have been fatigue? Was it just some superstitious belief? Could it have been that the owner of the hotel was into some occultic practices? Or is it that a powerful spirit was buried inside that room and it has continually haunted the space? Could it have been that someone's life was violently taken in that room in the past?

 Well, life is full of mysteries. I survived the ordeal anyway and I'm eternally grateful to God.