"This twins must be sacrificed to the chief priest, if not, trouble looms in the air of this Kingdom..." The Onuwa said.
"Yes. The quick removal of a venomous serpent from a house, saves the entire land from its venom...." Another elder added.
"But, Mazi Ibikwe, must we always kill these twins born in the village....?" One of the elders questioned.
"Enough! We know the custom of our land. No twins are permitted to grow on the soil of this Ugala kingdom. It's an abomination! And so, let the materials for the sacrifice be prepared before night falls. I have spoken!..." The king said. He stood up and went inside his chamber.
"Ahhhhhh.... Not my children.... please.... Onowu.... please....elders, please...." One of the elders, Mazi Ifeanyi said.
"You heard the king!.." the Onowu said and they all left the palace.
The mother of the twins, upon hearing the news, cried out.
She has been barren for 5yrs.
"No... I can't let this happen to my babies. I must keep them alive....!" She said.
Despite her weakness, she sneaked out of the house with the twins in a basket well covered and went deep into the forest. There, she met a very old woman. She explained the issue to her and kept the baby with her before returning to the village.
She didn't know that that old woman was a strong witch who was about to die and needed a replacement. She drained a little of the blood of the twins, and gave them her blood to drink.
The twins grew up to maturity, but possessing strange powers. The woman died later.
They lived in a cave terrorizing the village of Ugala. One of them became the new chief priest, while the other was heavily possessed with the demon that feeds on human flesh and drinks human Blood.
This was the Chief Priest and Ogugu that terrorized the village of Ugala.
These happened about 50yrs back.
Hassan woke up.
"Blood of Jesus...!" He said.
He narrated the story to his colleagues that day during their break period.
"My God! You mean they were twins?" Ike asked him.
"That's what I saw" Hassan replied.
"But, why then do they sacrifice twins to them, if they were twins as well?" Folakemi said.
"When a man has been possessed by the devil, only wickedness and evil runs in blood..." Hassan said.
"In reality, they have also some human feelings of regrets, pain, emotions and weaknesses...." Folakemi objected.
"Wait.... That's very true. No matter how wicked a human being is, he can still be converted. There is no limit to the power of God. God can save anybody....
Hmmmmmmm....is somebody thinking what I am thinking....?" Ike said as he reasoned deeply on the matter
"Does it mean that both the chief priest and Ogugu can still be saved?" Folakemi said rhetorically.
"I need to see this king" Hassan said.
They went back to their desk.
After school, Hassan went to the palace to see the king.
The king was very busy with attending to issues among people that came to seek his counsel.
Hassan waited until it was his turn to see him.
"Ha.... corper, you are welcome. Please, have your seat. How are you and your colleagues faring?" The king asked.
"We bless God, Igwe. In fact, we are very grateful for the gifts you sent to us. Thank you very much, my king...." Hassan replied.
"Corper, what you have done for the Igwe and this kingdom is more than what was sent to you. We wish to even do more...." The queen said. She was sitting on her royal seat by the king.
They all laughed.
"Igwe, there's something very important I would love to share with you. I would also prefer if the council of elders were here also...." Hassan said.
"That's not a problem, corper..." The Igwe said.
He ordered his guards to go into the village and summon all the elders immediately.
The guards all went and did as they were told.
"What has happened again? Why is the Igwe calling for this meeting....?" Mazi Okonkwo said as he walked down the palace road with the Onowu and others on the way.
They arrived the palace and quickly took their seat according to their titled position.
"You are welcome, my elders. I'm very sorry for having to disturb you this hot afternoon...." The Igwe apologized.
"When the lion summons a meeting in the forest, it would be an act of impunity for the hare to be absent..." Mazi Okonkwo said.
"We are all here, Igwe. Speak on...." The Onowu said.
"Corper, over to you..." The king said as he allowed Hassan to speak up.
Hassan narrated everything he saw in his dream to the king and the council of elders.
"Chaiiiiii....!" Mazi Okonkwo exclaimed...
The king was quiet for some minutes. The whole palace was quiet. The shock of the revelation was so strong on everyone, including the guards. Then the king looked at the Onowu.
"Mazi Ekene, you have been an elder for years. You were here when my father, the great king Ikenna, was king over this kingdom. What do you have to say about this?"
The Onowu stood up trembling.
"Igweeeeeee...." He greeted.
"The head of an old man had witness both the strife between the rain and the sun on who dominates the Earth. It has also heard the sound of the crickets crying all through the night...." The Onowu said.
"So....?" The king asked with a stern look at him.
"I, indeed was aware. All my father did was to protect the customs and traditions of the great people of Ugala Kingdom. The covenant our fore fathers made with the spirits was that every twins born in this village would be taken to the chief priest then for sacrifice in order to secure the protection and preservation of this land by the spirits of our gods....." The Onowu said as he tried to defend his actions.
"They tried to find the woman then, but couldn't. It was later she returned that evening, but refused to tell us where she took the baby to. The king, your father, banished her and her family from this village. This was 50yrs ago...." The Onowu said.
"Hmmmmm..... This is a serious problem. They are now using an age-long hatred to torment this land...." Mazi Chinomso said as he rest his cheek on his staff.
The king stood up and was pacing back and forth his throne.
"Corper, what do we do?" He asked Hassan.
"My king, for now, It can't say anything. I and my colleagues would take this issue to God in Prayer. I believe there's a reason why God disclosed this mystery to me..." Hassan said.
"Okay.. let us all join our corpers to pray to the God who made the Heaven and the Earth. That He would grant us wisdom on what to do to deal with this challenge on ground..." The king said and dismissed everyone.
*****************
"Hassan.... Guess what?" Folakemi said excitedly when he came into the lodge after his meeting with the king.
"What?" He asked.
"Osamudiame is now the one in charge of the CORPER'S fellowship in the entire state. He also said they are coming to this village to host a Rural Rugged Program. I mean, the entire Christian corpers of this State are storming Ugala village....!" Folakemi exclaimed with excitement.
"Praise God!" Ike shouted.
"Seriously? You mean what you just said..?" Hassan asked to get more clarification.
"Yessssss.... Oh I'm so excited. This village is in for a great transformation...!" She said.
Hassan knelt down to pray and thanked God for this great news.
*****************
"I smell a heavy confrontation against us...." The chief priest said as he conversed with Ogugu. He had, with his magical powers spied on the discussion in the palace as well as the conversation of the Corp members.
"We will drink more Blood......" Ogugu said and laughed out loud.
How did the Rural Rugged Program go in this village?
Cookies and similar technologies are used on our sites to personalise content and ads. You can find further details and change your personal settings below. By clicking OK, or by clicking any content on our sites, you agree to the use of these cookies and similar technologies.
GDPR
When you visit any of our websites, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and manage your preferences. Please note, that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.