31/08/2025
Ogbanje - Episode one
Ogbanje - Episode 1
Lagos never sleeps. From the sound of yellow danfo buses shouting “Oshodi oke! CMS! Ikeja!” to the loud music pouring out from roadside bars, the city always has a story. But this story is not about Lagos traffic or hustle. It is about a girl. A girl too beautiful to be ordinary. Her name is Amaka.
Amaka lived with her parents in Surulere, in a modest three-bedroom flat. She is 22 years old, tall, fair-skinned, with a smile that could melt even the hardest of heart. Men and women always turned to look at her whenever she walked past. But Amaka was not just beautiful. She carried a strange presence.
Anyone who wished her well, be it friends, neighbours or even strangers; they always found good things happening to them. One of her neighbours, Mama Nkechi, once gave her food one evening, and by the next day, Mama Nkechi’s long lost brother in America suddenly sent her money after ten years of silence. Another time, a struggling young man helped Amaka carry her shopping bag. Two weeks later, he won a contract he never dreamed of.
But it was not always blessings. If you dared to insult Amaka or think evil against her, misfortune followed like shadow.
One girl in her class back then in secondary school, Chika, mocked Amaka one day, calling her “bush village girl.” That same evening, Chika’s father had a terrible accident and lost the use of his legs. Another time, a man who harassed her in a bus suddenly lost his job the next morning. Nobody could explain it, but people began to whisper.
“Amaka is not ordinary,” they said.
Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Okafor, loved her dearly, but deep inside, they were afraid of their own daughter. From childhood, they had seen strange signs. When she was born, she did not cry immediately like other babies. She just opened her big, shining eyes and stared at everyone in the room until the nurse screamed and ran out. When she turned five, she often sat alone in her room, laughing and talking as if someone else was there. But whenever her parents entered, she went silent.
One night, when Amaka was eight years old, her mother heard voices coming from her room. She opened the door gently and saw her daughter sitting on the bed, clapping and singing with invisible people.
“Who are you talking to?” her mother asked, trembling.
Amaka simply smiled and said, “My friends. Don’t worry, Mummy. They are from my real home.”
Her mother almost fainted.
After that, they rushed her to church for deliverance. The pastor prayed, anointed her with oil, and declared her free. For a long time, Amaka seemed normal. She grew into a brilliant young woman, studying accounting at the University of Lagos. She was loved by many, and feared by some.
But lately, strange things had started happening again.
Sometimes, her roommates in the hostel would wake up in the middle of the night to hear Amaka talking and laughing in her sleep. Other times, they saw her sitting on the floor by herself, whispering as though someone was right there with her.
One night, her closest friend, Esther, confronted her.
“Amaka, who do you always talk to at night? It’s scaring everybody.”
Amaka looked at her with calm eyes and said softly, “You won’t understand, Esther. They are my family. They visit me. They tell me things about the future. They tell me who will succeed and who will fail.”
Esther’s body shook with fear. “Jesus Christ! Amaka, are you into witchcraft?”
Amaka shook her head slowly. “No. I didn’t choose this life. I was born this way. I am an Ogbanje.”
The word hung in the air like thunder. Esther gasped, covering her mouth.
“You mean… a spirit child?”
“Yes,” Amaka replied, almost with sadness. “Half of me belongs here. Half of me belongs… there. My other family calls me often. They say I am wasting time with humans. But I don’t want to go back. I love my parents. I love life here. But the more I resist, the stronger they come for me.”
Esther didn’t know whether to run or stay. Fear and pity filled her heart.
The next morning, something strange happened again.
On her way to class, a female student, Ada, accidentally pushed Amaka and shouted angrily, “Are you blind? Can’t you watch where you’re going?”
Amaka kept quiet, her eyes flashing red for a second before returning to normal. By evening, Ada’s phone got stolen, she missed her exam, and later that night, she fainted for no reason.
When word spread around campus, people whispered louder. Some began to avoid Amaka completely. Others tried to get close to her, hoping her blessings would rub off on them.
Meanwhile, Amaka’s parents noticed the change in her again. Her father saw her one night standing at the balcony, staring into the dark sky and speaking in a language he could not understand.
“Amaka!” he shouted.
But she turned slowly and smiled. “Daddy, they are calling me again.”
Her father’s knees grew weak. He went inside, knelt down, and began to pray. He knew this battle was far from over.
Amaka was no ordinary child. She was an Ogbanje, living in modern-day Lagos, torn between two worlds — the world of flesh and the world of spirits.
And her story had just begun.
👉 To be continued in Episode 2
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