Angwa Rukuba, Jos, Plateau State.
parents and other siblings was said to have gone to the school after
closing hours on Monday, November 24, 2014 to bury the eggs between two
blocks of classrooms. As he claimed, the intent was for him to receive
favour from God and man.
mandatory one year service, thus prompting his recourse to what has now
been interpreted by people in the neighbourhood as diabolic self-help
that expectedly sparked off apprehension in the village. The head of
the school, Mrs. Deborah Solomon, said the pupils are now scared to come
to school.
“We the teachers are even scared because we do not know his motive. He
buried the eggs where the children normally go to play. We do not know
whether it could be a threat to the lives of the pupils or it would
have effect on their wellbeing. Up till now if I say I am happy, it is
not true. I am truly worried. To encourage the children to come to
school, some of us brave the odds and come to school. Since the
incident, we do gather the few pupils who still come to school to pray
for our safety. I have been encouraging them to believe in the living
God and not the type of god people like Sheriff believe in. I do tell
them that our God would not allow evil things to happen to us. So they
should not be afraid.”
for his own good, Solomon said the teachers do not believe him.
“When we asked him to drink one of the eggs if they are not harmful, he
refused to do so. If they have nothing to do with anybody he could have
buried them in his house and if not his house, by the stream behind the
school where people rarely visit or by the hills behind the school but
not in the school premises. I do not know why he chose this school.
There are other private schools around here but he chose to come here.
Is it because it is mainly patronized by the poor?”
already gone home on the fateful day, but a pupil of the school
recalled seeing Charles with a polythene bag in school. He dug a hole
in the ground and put something in it. The pupil ran into the village to
alert some people including one of their teachers living close by.
to the house of the Mai Angwa of Gwom Nabor, Mr. Sani Aware. The crowd
was just too large that it was not possible for her to even see the man
initially.
Comrade Marta, who is the state treasurer of the the Plateau State
chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, said the mob was ready to
lynch the man. Some were even throwing stones and other objects at him.
But on getting to Mai Angwa he took the suspect in and prevented them
from killing him. The people were very angry because they said the man
could as well have planted a bomb in the school premises without them
knowing, given what is happening in some parts of the country now.
security number circulated publicly to invite the police and promptly
handed Charles over to them.
“He was taken to the school where he dug out 21 eggs in one of the
holes. We did not see the second hole until the following day when one
of our teachers was checking around. After putting the eggs in the
holes, he had used dry grass to cover them up. Actually the teacher had
used her foot to remove the dry grass when one egg popped out. Three
other eggs were discovered in that hole. This is why everyone is afraid.
If we had not discovered the other hole, nobody would know it was
there. Now we do not know whether there are other eggs buried in other
spots yet to be discovered. This is why everyone is afraid.
“When the man was questioned even while being taken to Mai Angwa, he
wanted to confess but his mother who came to the scene did not allow him
to talk. She was busy shielding him. Even when the villagers were
throwing objects at him, she was using her body to parry them. At a
point, her wrapper loosened from her waist without her knowing. When
Charles was finally taken into the custody of Mai Angwa, he confessed
that he did it to gain favour from man and from God because he was
unemployed.
He said he got the idea from one of his friends during his NYSC days,
who told him, “If things are not going well for you in life, you can go
and bury eggs in a school and immediately things will change for you.”
he went, he met brick walls. Then he remembered what his friend said
and wanted to experiment it. When he was asked why he chose the school,
Charles said it was because it was closer to where he borrowed the
digger and the shovel.
the instruments for him from a nearby house. To conceal his motive from
his younger brother, he sent the innocent boy to buy him suya (roasted
meat) at Angwa Rukuba, believing that he would have finished what he
intended before the boy would come back. When the brother came back, he
saw him in the midst of the crowd that was trying to lynch him.
Brotherly affection gave him courage and strength as he tried to rescue
him, not knowing what wrong he had done.
story to the birds because they do not believe one word of what he said.
Their doubt stems from past experience that members of his family are
alleged to be notorious for committing such diabolic acts even before
they moved to Nabor because of the crisis that rocked the state
capital.
mother and brother to free him, a woman came to the scene and asked the
villagers why they allowed the family to live there. She said they were
known for such diabolic acts while in Angwa Rogo from where they moved
to Nabor. This explained why his mother tried to protect him instead of
scolding him for getting involved in such an action.
“We do not know whether it was their native doctor that gave him the
eggs to bury in the school. They could be members of a cult and could
pose danger to even the whole village. So they must leave,” said a
villager.
it has been bearing the cost of prosecuting him alone even though it has
involved the local government council in the matter.