A TENANT rushes out in terror: He has just heard blood chilling cries from unseen people in his room; another tenant screams as she also dashes out of the kitchen, falling and rolling on the floor as she makes the exit – she has also heard the strange noise from unseen people.
You are welcome to Ile Nla at Oke Imale and Dada Estate areas of Osogbo in Osun State, both of which were believed to be hunted by ghosts; at least until recently.
The tales of woe continued: Neighbours swear that the horrifying experiences happened up till about six years ago.
They told the Nigerian Compass on Saturday that during those fearful days, tenants of both houses would suddenly run out of their rooms screaming that they had just been beaten by unseen hands. Those caught relaxing on the patio at ungodly hours also had tales of woes: They were either overcome by the eerie and unearthly presence of some sort, arrested by incubus or awakened from their light slumber by blood curling wailing coming from only where nobody could tell. Many a time, they had been rudely awakened by unseen hands.
Like its name, which in the Yoruba language means 'Big House', Ile Nla is one large, sprawling mass.
Apart from its size -- about 16 rooms in the main house and many more at the ante section -- there is practically nothing extra-ordinary about the edifice. It is unpainted. The corrugated iron sheets covering the structure are rusty with age; stating the obvious that Ile Nla is by no means a newly erected structure. And, like other houses in that section of the town, it is densely populated. Each room houses at least two persons while some have even more than four cohabiting in them.
The sprawling structure which has only two entrances is always a beehive of activities. If the occupants are not cooking, they are eating and dining. Then, of course, typical of such a setting, there is always bedlam trailing all these communality.
Between Ile Nla and its right hand neighbour is a strip of land. On this narrow strip is a marked grave. It is unpainted but elevated and can be easily sighted by all. But on the way to this tombstone are some ridges of earth. Some are higher than the others while a few seem depressed. Only a very close scrutiny will reveal these ridges are also graves.
In another section of the town is Ile Jesu, translated as Jesus’ House. Painted in the colour of a GSM provider, it stands tall and is imposing as it gazes down, almost in contempt, at other structures which surround it.
Like Ile Nla, Ile Jesu is also not newly constructed. But unlike the former, it is of more modern architectural design.
Also, unlike Ile Nla, which is known and addressed as such by virtually everybody, only a few call the latter by the name, Ile Jesu. Most people, though, will rather not call it by its popular sobriquet, Ile Iwin (House of Demons): in their heart of heart, that is what it is.
Apart from their imposing structures and the fact that they are both located in the culturally rich Osogbo town, both houses share one common denominator: they are both believed to be hunted.
As lively as Ile Nla is now, a couple of years ago contrary was the case. It was a ghost town. Tenants would suddenly run out of their rooms screaming: They had been beaten by unseen hands. Those caught relaxing on the patio at ungodly hours had tales of woes: They were either overcome by the eerie and unearthly presence of some sort, arrested by incubus or awakened from their light slumber by blood curling wailing coming from only where nobody could tell. Many a time, they had been rudely awakened by unseen hands.
But that had not been from the onset.
The house was built by an Osogbo chief who had many wives. As a result of this, he built a house that had many rooms. After his death, the property would naturally be inherited by those it was bequeathed to.
Trouble, according to sources, started when a brother of the late Chief appointed to care of the property allegedly got more interested and wanted to appropriate it for his own.
Expectedly, there was stiff opposition from the children and other members of the extended family. How could only one person appropriate such a large property to himself, they queried.
The man in question was reputed to be highly versed in traditional medicine and charms which he could use without much ado or provocation.
The disenchantment of the direct descendants of the owner of Ile Nla was still on, though kept within the family; until a certain day when the bubble finally burst.
A relation died and most of the children who were either in Lagos or Ibadan came home to commiserate with other members of the family.
After the condolence visit, they bid those in Osogbo bye. It turned out to be their final farewell, one to eternity.
As most of them were headed the same way, Lagos through Ibadan, they decided to embark on the journey in the same vehicle. It was a most unfortunate decision.
A few kilometres from Osogbo, the bus which belonged to one of them had a crash. It was a lone accident, yet all the occupants died. The accident happened barely an hour to the time they departed their father’s house at Oke Imale.
Eleven bodies, male and female, drenched in their own blood with varying degrees of injuries were brought back to Oke Imale. It was a gory sight.
In line with the injunction of their faith, 11 graves were hurriedly dug and the young men and women were committed to the earth. It was barely hours after their departure.
That day, six years ago, was a pathetic one in the State of the Living Spring Capital. Everybody wanted to catch a glimpse of the bodies and -- after they had been buried -- their graves. It was a day even the lame begged to be carried.
Of course, every finger pointed at Baba Rasaki, their uncle, who had been having a running battle with the deceased children of his brother.
Bold and daring, he made no attempt to deny the allegation. At the end of the day, he only escaped being lynched by the whiskers.
Alhaja Sakirat Ibukun is a caterer and she has been a tenant in the house for the past six years. She witnessed the changing fortunes of Ile Nla. Now, she is the undisputed oldest tenant and the rallying spirit of the sprawling house.
“It was a very, very terrible day. To see the bodies of not one, two but 11 people you had just chatted with not quite an hour previously all dead and soaked in blood! Everybody was crying. It was a pitiable sight. But we never knew that worse things were coming.
Some weeks after the burial, things started happening. We would be sitting outside around 7pm or there about, a gush of fierce wind would suddenly rush by. Everywhere would become chilly and we would become swollen-headed.
“That was at the initial stage. Later, you would just start hearing strange sounds. Then it became a weeping sound. In the night, we would be hearing sounds of pellets thrown on the roof top. At times, you would hear knocks at the door. When you got there to open the door, there would be nobody.”
After some time, according to Alhaja Ibukun, people started parking out of the house. “But some of us who had nowhere to go to had to stay. So it became a taboo to come out alone at night. Only the lion-hearted would dare come in late. We were living in a sort of self imposed curfew,” she added.
But all this period what was the condition of the major suspect, the Nigerian Compass on Saturday sought to know.
“Baba Rasaki is a strong medicine man. He moved further down the house, up front. He would lock himself inside wearing his special medicine cloth. At some other time, he would come out chanting incantations and doing all sorts of rituals. He never hid it that he was the target of these angry spirits. He would at times boast that they could do him no harm and that he did not give a hoot about what their reactions were.”
But how was this phenomenon overcome?
“When the trouble started becoming unbearable, we decided to consult some babalawo (Ifa Priests), herbalists and people who could speak to the dead. They all confirmed to us that the noise was coming from the dead children of the house. We were then asked to do some rituals and offer some sacrifices which we did. This was when all hell now broke loose. It was as if we had just gone to provoke them. The attacks now became more and fierce.
“One day, Baba Rasaki was attacked by these unseen beings and for many days he was hanging between life and death.
“All these were happening until a certain friend of mine came to our rescue. After making his own consultations, he asked me to buy some things which I did. He then offered the sacrifices. That was when they revealed that they were not after the tenants but their uncle.”
For their uncle, it was not over yet. To appease the unseen beings or probably fortify himself against further attacks, he was said to have prepared to offer sacrifices to Esu whose shrine is very close to the house. A goat was tied to the stead of Esu. It was there for sometime. Amazingly, on the supposed day of the offering, the goat disappeared into thin air.
If you think somebody must have stolen the goat, then you are not accustomed to the traditional Yoruba belief: only an insane man will steal from Esu.
Ibukun continued: “Nobody knew what happened to the goat. It just disappeared. Then, something strange happened. We learnt that the fortified dress of the man was missing. And sometime, he started behaving funny.”
The man, said to be an ex-soldier was not around when the Nigerian Compass on Saturday called on the hunted house. He was said to have gone out to return at 2pm to come and offer his prayers. Our reporter after failing to convince the neighbours to relay his message to Baba Rasaki left a note at his door which was heavily barricaded.
At exactly 2.05pm when the Nigerian Compass on Saturday returned, he was still not around till around 4.30pm when the reporter finally called it a day.
If tenants were still able to reside at Ile Nla during the period of attacks from the unseen and unknown, residents of Ile Iwin, now called Ile Jesu, could probably not with stand the onslaught from the powers from beyond. Or as argued by some, the troublers of Ile Iwin were more fierce.
Nobody could actually trace the genesis of attacks on Ile Iwin. Also, no one could really say they were ghosts or spirits and this probably explain the sobriquet, Ile Iwin.
Neighbours spoken to by the Nigerian Compass on Saturday would not want to their names in print, neither their photographs. Reason: It now has a new owner, a medical doctor in the State owned Teaching Hospital who is leaving no stones unturned to change people's perception of the house.
“When this house was being hunted, nobody dared stay. Tenants had fled the place with their rent unclaimed or returned for countless number of times. Getting tenants to the place then was usually by ploys. And the victims were mostly non-indigenes or people who were unfamiliar with the happenings,”a source told the Nigerian Compass on Saturday.
The former Ile Iwin is on the way to Dada Estate and very close to the main road. By the un-tarred road that leads to it is a row of shops. And as it casts its formidable gaze on the street, a small wooden plate apparently to convince “cynics” of the current status of the house bears the inscription, Ile Jesu.
Happenings at Ile Iwin were different from those of Ile Nla. According to sources, at a mid-day a blood curling scream would suddenly rent the air. The voice, according to sources, was female. After this, deep groans would be emitted intermittently.
“When these were happening, no human being would be able to withstand it for long. So, all the tenants would flee eventually. There was a time it was used as an office and not a residence. Even those people also ran away. There were reports that whenever they reported for work in the morning they would meet the place in disarray. And this was happening almost on a daily basis. At the end of the day, they ran away.
“After these people, a particular church rented the place. It did not last three months. Despite their incessant prayers and vigils, they could not stay. It was that bad. They were busy telling anyone who could listen that they would drive away whatever it was that was scaring people away. At the end of the day, the reverse was the case.”
But the current occupants of the house say that they have never witnessed any weird occurrence since they packed in there. Such occurrences, according to a woman who claims to be a tenant in the house, are now a thing of the past.
The woman, who led a boy of about three years old, said that she was not aware of the frightening tales hovering around the house before she rented it.
By Kayode Falade
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