'The Cannibals of Oshodi Expressway' by Reuben Abati
Joshua Meisler
by Reuben Abati
February 7, 1999
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Whenever I heard stories about the practice of cannibalism, I promptly
dismissed it as impossible, in this day and age of change and progress.
I could not imagine anyone eating human flesh, and crushing human bones
when there is a variety of normal meat, vegetables and other delicacies
to be enjoyed. What kind of human being could that possibly be who would
roast another human being for a meal, and feel comfortable feeding on
his own kind? I first read about cannibalism in Wole Soyinka's {Madmen
and Specialists} - one of those works which the Nobel Laureate wrote in
the 70s in response to the normlessness that the Civil War of 1967-70
imposed on society. Here, Soyinka paints the picture of a depraved
humanity which feeds upon itself partly in fulfilment of a historical
destiny that has become timeless and eternal. I enjoyed the play, but I
thought Soyinka was merely doing his usual thing, expanding the
boundaries of human thought.
In Calabar, in those days, I further recall that those of us who had
come to live in Calabar from outside, that is non-indigenes, were always
advised not to visit certain parts of the town, and also, certain parts
of Cross-River State. We were pointedly advised that going about
carelessly at night could be disastrous. Human beings, so the
admonitions stated, are considered a special delicacy in the area. I
took this matter seriously. I certainly did not want to end up in
anyone's peppersoup bowl, or in a corner of the Central Calabar market,
where I gathered, human parts were available for sale, if you knew who
to ask. Indeed, I was very careful throughout my stay in Calabar, even
if I felt secretly that this was an attempt to give my Calabar
countrymen and women, a bad name. However, whenever I argued in this
manner, I was always reminded that during the civil war, cannibalism was
a major weapon of survival for persons and families for whom the war
meant a loss of hope about the future.
I saw cannibalism as a shameful chapter of human history belonging to
the pre-historic era. Civilisation is supposed to have socialised man,
and truly it has, to turn him into a civil being with due and proper
respect for man. Cannibalism of any form, is anti-human. It is a
sadistic reduction of man, to the level of a thing - it is, if we may so
speak, the {thingification} of man. When man becomes a thing, then
end-time is at hand, humanity is adrift, hope is lost. Sincerely I'd
believed that man has since evolved beyond the level of the physical
predator. What has happened in Lagos in the last few days, has proven me
totally wrong.
I read the newspapers on Thursday, and I was alarmed. Behold, the story
was told of one Clifford Orji, and Tahiru, who were caught with roasted
parts of the human body. Clifford, who in subsequent reports has been
presented as the principal suspect in the case, is the proprietor of a
narrow, 10 ft. deep hole, which is barricaded with used tyres, where at
night, he slaughters captured human beings. Tahiru, according to the
police, is an accomplice, from whose possession, the police has
retrieved sophisticated arms and ammunitions. These {Otokoto} guys have
their house of sin and horror on the Oshodi-Isolo Expressway, between
R.T. Briscoe, on one side, and DHL, on the other, less than 10 minutes
drive away from the Murtala Muhammed Airport, and far less than 200
metres away from our office, {Rutam House}. Which is to say that each
time I am busy behind this desk, writing or editing, and struggling to
make meaning out of my existence, some other citizen, a stone-throw away
would be busy munching human meat, and thus making real nonsense of the
task of living and struggling. These cannibals have carried on their
unholy business, according to reports, for at least four years. Evidence
of their business is shocking: identity cards, human bones, pieces of
roasted thighs and feet, and one Mrs. Awawu, whose broad day light cries
drew attention to the hide-out. Mrs. Awawu, who had been raped and
dehumanised was rescued, just before the cannibals prepared her for a
feast.
Clifford and his accomplice have since boasted that they specialise in
women who wear false hair attachments. Well, all ladies who go about
with wigs, now you know. As Clifford confessed: {"All I do is to look
unto the forehead of any woman, blow the air from my mouth, as directed
by the spirit, then the woman will follow me."} Continuing he said:
{"When I get to the under bridge, I will have sexual affair with her to
a state of unconsciousness before we slaughter her and roast."}
God, see what humanity has become. The more I read this story, the more
I shivered. Clifford Orji's abattoir is only a stone-throw away from the
Toyota Bus Stop. On several occasions, I have had to abandon the car,
and go home in public transport. Often times, I would get to the Toyota
Bus Stop by 11 p.m. and alone, in the night I would wait for one of
those buses which seem to operate at all times of the day. What if
Clifford who I gather goes about with an iron rod had captured me? What
if his accomplice, the one they call Tahiru had found me at the bus
stop? Only God knows how many innocent persons have ended up in
Clifford's stomach and whose tongues, eyes, and intestines have mixed up
with Tahiru's saliva. This is truly bizarre.
Now that the two suspects are safely in police custody, we can begin to
look at the implications. The first point to be made is that the
existence of Clifford's hide-out, and the horror committed therein is a
bad comment on the capacity of our security agencies to ensure peace and
order in the land. Clifford and Co. abducted human beings and roasted
them in the open for so long, and neither the police nor the SSS could
check out the hide-out to find out what was going on. We can hazard the
guess that there are several of such hide-outs in the city of Lagos and
elsewhere today where similar satanic rituals are being conducted.
Clifford, one report stated, had placed a signboard outside stating that
he was running a herbalist home. Persons have testified that they often
saw expensive cars parked in front of this home every night.
What this suggests is that Mr. Clifford is not alone; and he did
whatever he did, in the open. Less than 100 metres away from his house
of horror, council officials molest motorists on a daily basis. Could
it be that these council officials are too busy with their extortionist
business that they could never ever perceive the smell of burning flesh
nearby? Every day, {Operation Sweep} and other arms of the police patrol
the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway. There is, every other night, a police
check-point by R.T. Briscoe. Clifford and his men must have seen this
degree of security presence in the area, but they couldn't have been
bothered, because they must know that the security agencies in Nigeria
are too busy punishing innocent motorists and collecting bribes. When
they are not doing this, they can be found at petrol stations where they
act as agents for hapless fuel-seekers who are tired of waiting on
queues.
The other point to be made is that the two suspects, Clifford and Tahiru
must be classified {Public Enemies}. They must be kept under maximum
security. They must not be allowed to escape from custody, or to die
accidentally. They must be kept alive, until they tell the public all
that needs to be known. They are at best members of a flesh-eating
syndicate that is inflicting quiet horror on the city. They must be
made to lead the police to those other members. We are told that
Clifford owns a cellular phone. And that he was found with N.5m. What is
he doing with a cellular phone? What is the source of his wealth?
Incidentally, we continue to hear stories of how certain members of our
society specialise in the use of body parts for all kinds of rituals.
Breasts, eyes, tongues, the private part, any body part at all have
become prized items in the hands of a growing cult of ritualists. Even
as the public was expressing shock at the discovery of the cannibals in
Lagos, {ThisDay} newspaper of February 5, reported on p. 6, that the
police have also recovered a human leg from one Damilola Adebanwo in
Ori-Oke in Ilaje local Government area of Ondo State. The human leg was
kept in a nylon bag. It is not impossible that the cannibals of Oshodi
expressway have acted thus far, as suppliers of body parts to certain
clients. Whatever remained, they roasted and ate. God!
Is this what our nation has become? Is this a sure sign of the end of
the world as we know it? What is it that drives other men to kill and
eat their kind? We would probably never know the truth, but what we know
is that this land, this society, has become so insecure that human life
is worth nothing anymore. The cannibalism of Clifford and his
accomplices is only one level of man's inhumanity to man. There is a
higher cannibalism that makes the lower, baser forms possible. I speak
in this sense, of the cannibalism of the state.
The Nigerian state itself is one huge cannibal, we all are victims. Like
Mrs. Awawu, we are prisoners in a deep hole. Daily, we are traumatised,
raped and abused, awaiting the day when the predator called the state
would claim its victim. Or how else, do we describe the bad roads that
rush persons to untimely deaths, the security agencies which leave
citizens at the mercy of cannibals and armed robbers, the employers who
have included "the death penalty" in the condition of service, and
trigger-happy soldiers who shoot at the slightest provocation. The loss
of value, the disregard for humanity that this connotes is what
emboldens Clifford Orji and Co. At the Police station, he was reported
to have declared to the police: "They know I am a mad man and were still
beating me". And that from a man who has provoked a flood of tears in
many homes.
Even in his hour of reckoning, Clifford, the cannibal is not apologetic.
Was he expecting sympathy from the police? He and the other accomplice
must not be allowed to escape from police custody. Any police officer
who fails to discharge this duty in the public interest, should be
charged for treason. I repeat: The cannibals in police custody must not
disappear from the cell. You know what I mean, and the police, I am
sure, understand. Really, I hope they do.
© 1999 Reuben Abati and The Guardian Newspapers (Lagos, Nigeria)