Is the average Nollywood movie complete without someone mentioning or going to a shrine? To find out if it is as prevalent and popular in real life, I asked my Twitter followers and some people I know in real life about their experiences with juju/jazz. The answers? Absolutely fascinating.
Ben, 32.
In 2018, I was going through a very rough patch – financially, physically, every way you could imagine – and then a friend suggested I go see this person he knew that does prayers. I was desperate, when I got there I realized it wasn’t a place for ‘prayers’ like my friend told me. However, I won’t lie I went on with it because I was desperate. After consulting with the ‘spirits’ and everything, he gave me a cup that had some very salty water and a stone. I paid ₦15,000. He said it would ward off the evil spirits that was bringing bad luck. Six months, later my life was still the same so I threw the stone away.
Shola, 20.
I haven’t used juju on anyone, but it’s been used on me. It was a Sunday and I was going to church from school in Akure and when I got to the bus stop, a guy came to meet me and spun a lie about how his mom was dying and he needed to see a herbalist for the cure. He begged me to lead him there, but I said I didn’t know the place. Another man came to meet me and said I should help the guy with the “sick mother”. We walked together for a long while till we got to a house made of mud. A man came out and performed some rituals. When I left, I realised the money with me had disappeared and so had the Samsung Galaxy tablet with me also disappeared. He spoke some incantations and these things happened before my eyes.
Chioma, 41.
My husband married another wife after getting a new and better position. I was very angry and I started going to church to pray against it happening. One day, someone I met in the church came up to me and told me she had heard and told me I had to fight for my family. I told her, I was doing what I could do. She told me, that this wouldn’t cut it and offered to take me to a person she knew and at this point, I was desperate enough to do it. The place we went to was three towns far from us. The man listened as I talk and then told me how much it would cost. When he started explaining what the thing he was giving me would do: abort the girl’s pregnancy, possibly make it so she wouldn’t be able to take it further. I couldn’t do it so I left the place.
Adam, 26.
I don’t know if this counts but in university, there was a girl I wanted to get with that wasn’t looking my way. And when I told my friends, they told me they know a person that’ll fix me right up. I went to see this guy with them, it cost ₦10,000 and he gave me a powder that I should put on my face when next I went to see the girl. I did it and the next morning, I was really sick. I had to get hospitalized for a few days. I don’t know if it’s linked but never again.
