THE MYTH OF BADAGRY 250 YEAR OLD IROKO TREE AND THE DAUNTLESSNESS OF LAGOS FIREFIGHTERS

By Bola Ajao

Like the story of the burning Bush and the invincibility of the Bush in the bible where Moses saw a baffling sight on Mount Horeb “the Bush was on fire and did not burn up”, the ancient town of Badagry also in the past few weeks was agog for visitors coming from different parts of the state to witness  what could perharps be descibed as the most incredulous mystery in recent time when an Iroko tree (Silk-Cotton) caught fire and refused to be abated or subsided by efforts of the Lagos  firefighters

The ancient town is no doubt a destination for tourists who regularly take turns to visit monuments within and around the town but on this fateful day, the scene of this incident at Ajigan Quarters, along Topo Ascon Way swiftly became the meeting point for residents of the town, the neighbouring town as well as tourists who dramatically changed their destinations to pay a visit to the burning Iroko tree.

Fire! Fire!! Fire!!! was the screaming of a middle aged man who rushed into the Badagry office of the Lagos Fire Service, shouting at the top of his voice alerting the officers of a fire outbreak.  The informant disclosed the scene of the incident as Awhanjigoh Quatres and further described the “source” of the ranging inferno as a “6meters old Iroko Tree”.

Culturally, an Iroko Tree (silk- Cotton) in the local African setting is deeply rooted and associated with cultural myth and traditionally believed to be inhabited by dwelling spirits which supports the local claim of its supernatural power.  In what initially started as hearsay was later confirmed to be true as the news filtered through the ancient town of Badagry that a sacred tree was on fire. The Lagos fire fighters embarked on the 5 kilometer safety trip to Ajigan along Topo Ascon Way with the aim of preventing loss of lives and property especially from the Badagry prison and some shops In the area.

Witness to the free oddity show was  the Head of Lagos fire Service, Badagry, Abel Wusu who is also an indigene of Badagry and obvious of the existence and familiarity  of the locals to the Iroko tree . According to him the team responded to the fire alert precisely at 7:29 pm that fateful Sunday evening with the determination of putting out the fire before retiring to his quarters to call it a quit for the day.

Surprisingly, the Iroko tree was only burning from the stem, leaving out the branches and the root. All the professional tactics displayed by the firemen at the scene to put out the fire proved abortive as the fire continue to spread to the top of the tree. One of the firemen at the scene described the ranging inferno as one similar to fire ignited by gas explosion and consumed two trucks of water without  ceasing .”the more we fight it,  the more it rages furiously “he expressed.

To the surprise of the natives and other on lookers, the Iroko tree was upright all through as its leafs refused to fall, thereby retaining its ‘greenery’ look to the astonishment of the crowd. Displaying further gallantry act, the fire fighters aggressively battled the said tree with water mixed with chemical to prevent the fire from spreading to other nearby buildings but mysteriously  also, the fire confined its burning and did not spread out of the enclosement.

The firefighting Operations which started around 7.29pm on Sunday evening did not stop until 3pm Monday afternoon defying all professional tactics exhibited by the officers who later left the scene after establishing the fire as a no danger threat to the inhabitants  of the area.

The Jengben of Badagry, whose family is the custodian of the tree and whose responsibility is to perform all necessary rituals to the gods of the tree on behalf of the natives explained that the tree has been there for over 250 years and has been promoting peace and harmonious relationship between the inhabitants. He further added that no local festivals including Egungun, Igunu, Oro and other festivities peculiar to the ancient town Commences without paying due homage to the sacred tree.

unconfirmed report had it that Similar incident reportedly occured in the 70s and 80s respectively at the same scene but never lasted beyond 30mins. Some residents living close to where the incident occurred claimed that there were usually emerging conversations from the tree in the midnights directed to no one in particular and which seizes by dawn

Agosu  James an indigine of Awhanjigoh Quatres  claimed that offering of sacrifices using sacrificial offerings like Ekoo, cowries, eggs, hens, palm oil amongst others to  appease supernatural gods and deities is peculiar to our Cline in Africa especially when seeking for all kinds of favour and blessings were also of the opinion that the tree was calling for attention which it had not be given for a while and therefore used the incident to express its anger.

Another version of the report has it that the fire that erupted from the tree was due to the fact that the tree was confined within a perimeter fence thereby denying people access to it as expected and also because it is not getting the due sacrificial offerings which had hither though been obstructed by chain of shops built around it. The effect of this according to them is that, the fencing of the iroko tree restricts people’s access while prayers and offerings can’t be made routinely except periodically during special worshipping.

 One of the most astonishing part of the incident of the burning tree was the shedding of its branches which fell within the confined space and did not spread out of the confinement.

With this incident, perhaps the scene would henceforth be included as one of the tourist site attractions in the ancient town that would be visited by regular visitors and tourists to the town.

As the Yorubas will say “Nkan N be”; indeed, there are mysterious occurrences under the sun.

Bola Ajao is the Public Affair Officer, Lagos State Fire Service