Sakawa Shocks Chiefs

Goro, one of the sakawa boys

THE Chiefs and royals of Ablekuma, a suburb of Accra, and its environs have expressed dismay over the recent arrest of Mallam Fatau, a Muslim cleric who shot to fame in the alleged Snake Men story.

The sensational Muslim spiritualist recently announced that he had with him two dumb men and two human beings who had turned into snakes in their attempt to get rich over night.

According to the royals, Mallam Fatau, before succeeding in fooling Ghanaians, made them believe that he had powers to heal all kinds of strange diseases and could even assist people to solve any problems they were facing.

Mallam Fatau is currently in the grips of the police and is being investigated over the snake story, with the latest revelation being that nobody turned into snake, as claimed by him that the two young men turned into snakes because they could not perform the necessary rituals.

Briefing DAILY GUIDE in an interview on Friday, September 4, 2009 at Bokoboko and Oduman, all at Ablekuma, Gyaasehene of Oduman, Benjamin Odabaa, lamented that the head of the royal family, together with the chiefs at Weija Constituency, were shocked at the arrest of Mallam Fatau.

He said they were fooled into believing that Mallam Fatau was doing everything possible to turn two young men who changed into snakes, back to human beings.

Mr. Odabaa said even though the chief of Oduman, at the day of the incident was not present at Mallam Fatau's residence to witness it himself, he, Gyaasehene, went with other royal members to have a look at the bizarre incident, immediately they were invited by the assistants of Malam Fatau.

According to the Gyaasehene, although he initially doubted the story, he later got convinced as most of the people who accompanied him to the place made him believe the story.

He said after waiting for a while at Malam Fatau's residence, he could not turn the snakes back into human beings as he promised them.

According to the Gyaasehene, Mallam Fatau told the crowd gathered at his premises that he had to get a special kind of oil before he could turn the two snakes into human beings.

The Abusuapanyin of Oduman, Richard Odu Harrison, on his part, told the paper that as the head of the royal family of Oduman, where Malam Fatau conducted his spiritual business, he sent some members of the family to visit the place and find out how true the story was.

He said the people returned and informed him that the story was true as they saw the two snakes with their naked eyes, adding that they also saw the snakes at the time Mallam Fatau put them into a pot and covered them with some red cloth.

Mr. Harrison said the men told him that what made them believe the story was that when Mallam Fatau opened the pot, there were several foreign currencies inside the pot.

They also realised that the other two people (Filco and Goro) who were alleged to have gone there with the 'snake-men' were not talking properly.

The Abusuapanyin stated that he was told that Mallam Fatau explained to them that the two men had been stricken with dumbness and had therefore become 'jimijimi'.

He lamented that when they heard on radio that the story about the 'snake men' was not true, they were really astonished and annoyed that Mallam Fatau had fooled them all.

Mr. Harrison stressed that they are now waiting for the outcome of the investigations and added that if it comes out that Mallam Fatau took them for granted, they would then advice themselves.

The Abusuapanyin told DAILY GUIDE that since sources at the Police Headquarters said the 'snake-men's story was concocted and Mallam Fatau was also being investigated over another alleged fraud case, there was a clear indication that the Muslim cleric was really a criminal and needed to be kicked out of the area.

At Bokoboko palace, even though the chief was absent, his spokesperson and some of the royals told the paper that they were all shocked at the new turn of events.

DAILY GUIDE earlier on reported that Mallam Fatau had been arrested for defrauding somebody of about GH¢ 7,000.

According to the story, Mallam Fatau's snake story was also concocted, explaining that the two boys, Kofi Adjei and Kwame Tetteh, who failed to get the blood-soaked pads of their girlfriends and were reported to have turned into snakes when they opened the pot which they alleged contained human hearts, were all concocted.

The two others, Filco and Goro, who were said to have been dumb until they were brought to the sanctuary of Mallam Fatau, were all part of the ploy.

Mallam Fatau, in the presence of huge crowd, took the two dumb men, Filco and Goro, through various procedures of rituals including bathing them with the snakes wrapped around their neck at the Kokrobite Beach.

He then promised to get some special oil from Yeji, in the Brong-Ahafo Region, to turn the two snakes back into human beings in four days time but has since not done that, claiming he could not get the oil.  

At one time, he said the snakes were speaking to him, other times he claimed they were fighting and blaming each other for their plight and had to put them into two separate pots to calm them.

Mallam Fatau is alleged also to have had syndicates who posed as relatives of the boys wailing at the time of the rituals as well as granting interviews to the media.

A source at the Police Headquarters has said investigations so far revealed that all of the supposed relatives of the 'snake-men' as well as Filco and Goro were now accomplices and would be invited to answer charges in due course.

By Stella Danso