A Nigerian journalist, writer and artist, Oseyiza King Oogbodo, has raised alarm on threats to his life from a cult gang.
Oogbodo, who has worked for The Nation and the National Mirror, among others, said some unidentified men, armed to the teeth came to his private residence on November 14, 2021 at about 9:30pm to threaten him to join their cult group.
According to the journalist-cum-entertainment personality, the unidentified men explained that his late mother had appointed him to take over from her position in the cult group. He further said the unidentified men claimed that he was the chosen one because he was his mother’s favourite child.
However, Oogbodo who said he doesn’t believe the claim by the faceless people that he was nominated to join their cult group by his late mother, also stated that his mother wasn’t a member of any cult groups before her demise. “I’m certainly not interested in them, so they should just leave me alone.” he said.
Relaying this much in a statement, Oogbodo said the cult group came back to his residence again on Tuesday January 11, 2022, insisting that he must join their group. He said that the unidentified persons made it clear to him that joining the cult group isn’t optional.
In his words, “they told me my membership wasn’t optional as my mother’s oath with them had made it statutory and they had come to notify me of it at that time as per my mother’s request that they should only do so from two weeks after her burial and then give me some time to think about it.
“Listening to them, I was in both shock and awe and told them I didn’t believe them. They said it didn’t matter and I should be prepared to do their bidding willingly or unwillingly and that it was only after my initiation I would know everything about them and equally importantly, my mother’s involvement with them as well as my expected role.
“And when they were leaving, they told me to escort them and after walking them a short distance from my house, they told me to go back.
“The following day, I went to the police station in my area to report the matter and they gave me a number to call them on the next time the men came to me.
“I tried to put it out of my mind and also resorted to praying steadfastly that no evil would befall me. And I felt my prayer was being answered until Tuesday January 11, 2022 when a set of two different men came in the night again.
“They knocked and when I questioned who was there, they asked for me by my name. I opened up for them though I didn’t know their voices because there was no point not to since they knew me. They said they had come to know my stance about joining their cult and I tried to play along with them so as to get more information from them.
“I asked the name of the cult and they said they were Ogboni ‘something’ which I can’t remember now. When I wanted to ask more questions, they asked if my interest meant I was now ready to be a member. I said I needed to know more to make up my mind and they said they could only tell me more on membership but one thing they could tell me was that my membership would be to my own greatest benefit as it would make me influential.
“I asked if I would be required to sacrifice a human life or even lives and if my mother actually sacrificed anyone. They both laughed and one of them responded that strong people did whatever they had to. Then they demanded to know what my membership conclusion was and I said they should give me more time and they said they would get back to me but I should know I was running out of time and they left.
“Their second visit made it obvious to me this was a very serious issue and I had to be very careful. Though the police had given me their number to call them immediately I sighted them again, I just couldn’t risk that with people wielding guns so I went back to the police station to report the issue again and the officers I met at the station were sleeping right in mid-afternoon and probably unhappy I disturbed her sleep, the one who attended to me just said I would have to go and report at a higher police station as that one in my area was just a small affair.
“So I’m using this medium at this point to reach out to these faceless people that I don’t believe them for one second that my mother was their member and that I’m certainly not interested in them so they should just leave me alone.”
Oogbodo is a musician, model, actor, content creator, writer, poet, author, journalist. He is the author of Women Don’t ENJOY Sex; If My Daughter Becomes A Prostitute; Demons Tremble At My Sight; Jesus Will Return Through Nigeria; I Wasn’t Paid For My Bill Clinton Performance and other books.
