Excerpts from the book, ICONS OF MUSHIN Volume 2
By: ‘ TUNDE OGUNMOLA
Brazen Display of Charms
The environment of Mushin gave me a firsthand experience to witness a brazen display of sophisticated local charms and their practical application. I didn’t partake in it though. This happened in the mid to late 90s at Olushoga Street, Mushin.
The annulment of the fairest and freest June 12, 1993 Presidential Election globally acclaimed to have been won by late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola aka MKO had given birth to a Yoruba socio-cultural group, Oodua Peoples’ Congress (OPC.) The election was annulled by the then military president, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) rtd. MKO declared himself winner and was incarcerated in Abuja and he subsequently died in mysterious circumstances. The Yoruba felt cheated, hence OPC came into being. Late Dr. Frederick Fasheun, Aare Gani Adams, and seven other people reportedly came together to form OPC on August 25th, 1994 at 115 Palm Avenue, Mushin, Lagos, while the regular meetings and other activities of the group were later moved to Olushoga Street, off Alafia Street, Isolo Road Mushin, Lagos.
They also had an open space of about one and a half plot of land they use at Olushoga Street. The activities of the group were termed treasonable and the Federal Government then was persistently on the trail of the group and its numerous members across Southwest states, but the flash point was Olushoga Street, Mushin, where they regularly converged to hold meetings. Other members of the group in Lagos, and across western states of the country- Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Ekiti, and Osun States used to come down to Olushoga for meetings with the leaders of the group on a weekly basis. During their meetings, different varieties of efficacious local charms were brazenly displayed, sold, and put into practical use by the hawkers or the owners of those charms for the intended buyers.
In most cases, animals like dogs or goats were used to test the efficacy of the charms, and in some few occasions, minions in the group damn the consequences, offered themselves for the test of the charms. Of course, I know your immediate question would be, what’s the outcome of such tests? In most cases, the originality and effectiveness of those charms were proved, although, there were very few occasions they flopped.
But in all, the charms were genuinely efficacious. I got to witness how eggs were turned to explosive devices- ‘egg bombs’ and used to launch vociferous attacks on perceived enemies. I don’t know how they were prepared or made but they looked like normal eggs we see and eat daily, the only difference was when they threw these ‘egg bombs’, as soon as it landed at the intended destination, it instantly exploded and brought out a quantum of fire which wreak havoc. (Aside guns, ‘Egg bombs’ were freely used to attack armed mobile policemen who incessantly attacked and raided them at the peak of their confrontations with the police at Olushoga Street, Mushin.) I got to even see the use of white handkerchiefs as bullet proof by merely waving the white handkerchiefs over your head, no gun bullet will hit you or penetrate your body, even when the gun is directly aimed at you.
They put it into use when they were attacked by the mobile policemen on several occasions; all these happened before my very naked eyes. Surprisingly, I did not possess or buy any of the charms. Not that I don’t believe in them, I strongly believe in the existence and efficacy of these charms, even prior to this experience, but I do not see the reason I should have them. There were other charms I saw and witnessed their usage, but permit me to stop at ‘egg bombs’ and the white handkerchiefs.
Fast forward, one day, I narrowly escaped being apprehended and paraded on a national television station by a group of mobile policemen who unexpectedly raided the OPC enclave at Olushoga Street, Mushin. I am ‘Omo Oodua Tokan Tokan,’ but I am not a member of the OPC, hence I shouldn’t be among their targets. Since I wasn’t a member of OPC, how did I narrowly escape being arrested by the police?
This will probably be the question agitating your mind. Well, I used to stay with my aged bedridden grandmother, late Alhaja Nosimat Lande Abass, who was down with stroke, I took care of her in the house. I stayed with her on Alafia Street, Mushin, while my parents’ house was just a trekkable distance from the place, Alhaji Temitope Street. Though, the house is on Alafia Street, it’s the second house adjacent or beside Olushoga Street where OPC used to hold meetings.
On that fateful day, the mobile policemen busted the OPC enclave to arrest members of the group, but perhaps, acting on a tip off, the members of the group had taken to their heels before the arrival of the police. Everywhere was silent and totally devoid of human and vehicular movements. Pronto, the stern-looking policemen jumped down from their vehicles and one of them pointed to the house I stayed with my grandma and beckoned on others to follow him, that he learnt some members of the group lived in the house (face me I face your house.] They forcefully opened the main entrance door of the building and raided the house, they arrested everyone in the building, except my shrunken old grandma. Perhaps, they would have noticed she was truly sick because she was frail, she could barely walk or talk coherently.
An elderly Islamic cleric, Alhaji Jamiu Yusuf, who happened to be the Chief Imam of Idera Central Mosque, at Showunmi Street, Mushin was not excluded from the arrest. Showunmi Street is beside Olushoga Street. They beat the innocent people arrested with the canes they took from the OPC shrine at the open space at Olushoga street. Interestingly, none of those arrested was a member of the OPC, but I was shocked to my bone marrow when, the next day they were all paraded on a national television station as members of the then wanted OPC.
They wore black uniforms for them, in the report on the television station, it was reported that the Chief Imam was one of the spiritual godfathers and leaders of the OPC, that he was among the backbones of the group who fortified members of the group with charms. (That memory and experience had continued to shape my opinion and thought about the Nigerian Police and any person or group of persons paraded by the police on television.)
Truly, two members of OPC lived in that house, one was Sharafa popularly called Laroso, and the other one who I can’t easily remember his name now was a vulcanizer, popularly addressed as ‘Vogar.’ His workshop was at the junction of Olushoga Street.
I used to be very close to Laroso, in fact, on countless occasions, I sat side by side with the now Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Aare Gani Adams in Laroso’s room to discuss the state of the country then and other mundane issues. Laroso and Vogar were not among those arrested, they had run for cover even before the policemen invaded Olushoga on that day. I escaped being among those arrested and paraded on television by the whiskers. No sooner I had left my late grandma’s place to my parents’ house, after I had given her what to eat, than the policemen invaded the house and carried out the ungodly and unreasonable arrests.
They had been around the vicinity, combing Olushoga Street to arrest members of the OPC before I entered the house, the whole streets were silent and deserted like a ghost town but I needed to feed the helpless old woman, she had not taken anything since morning, she was damn hungry. I defied the odds, and summoned courage to trek through the deserted streets before I could accomplish my intention of providing my beloved late grandma food to eat. Who could have ever predicted or thought that the policemen could be so overzealous in their approach to an extent of raiding a whole house and arrest innocent souls.
On that fateful day, if I had stayed with my grandma with the thought that, after all, I was inside the room and not on the street of Olushoga or Alafia, where I could easily be mistaken for a member of OPC, I would have been arrested alongside those paraded on national television. In a nutshell, concerted efforts of some well-meaning individuals in Lagos, human right bodies, Islamic religious groups/associations and some highly-placed persons in Mushin, especially, Dr. Muiz Banire (SAN) who hurriedly intervened and saved the innocent Chief Imam and others from being thrown into continuous detention as members of the then dreaded and wanted OPC. Without mincing words, what I saw during the fierce battle between the fully armed to the teeth mobile policemen and the daring OPC members at Olushoga in Mushin was nothing short of a mini war.
Every resident of adjoining streets around Olushoga used to be petrified each time the Police launched attacks on the OPC members at Olushoga, especially on their meeting days.
While the battle lasted, indiscriminate gunshots rented the air with tear gas fired in the air. Many residents of Olushoga Street and some other streets in Mushin, especially streets very close to the centre of the crisis relocated elsewhere, but I stayed put.
It was an indelible experience which, to a very large extent had toughened me. I am yet to see or experience such fierce battle up till now.
Mushin was placed on the world map during this Police/OPC clashes, Olushoga and Alafia Streets were constantly shown and reported by virtually all international news platforms- CNN, BBC etc and Mushin was mentioned. Attacks and reprisal attacks were the order of the day in Mushin, especially at Olushoga between the Police and OPC members, armoured tanks were regularly moved into Olushoga by the police to confront the OPC members who were also raring to go into battle with the police. Both of them (Policemen and OPC members) faced themselves to exchange, not words but gun duel in what seemed like a replication of an American war movie. It was indeed a mini war to behold.
Lifeless bodies of a few OPC members and that of policemen used to litter either Olushoga or Alafia streets, it was a gory sight to behold. Olushoga Street, Alafia Street, Church Street, Showunmi Street, Awawu Street, Ilasamaja road, Araromi Street, Cameroun Street, Bamigboye Street, Ademosun Street, Omowunmi Street, Layi Oyekanmi street, Alasalatu street, Isolo Road, and Itire Road, Ishaga close, etc were mostly affected areas, residents of these areas had their hearts in their mouths.
