Mystery python killed inside Aba Market

Creature believed to be responsible for mysterious loss of money by traders


• Handset allegedly found in it’s belly

Traders in the famous Ngwa road market a.k.a Ahia Ohuru in Aba the commercial nerve centre of Abia state are yet to come to terms with what starred them in the face on November 7, 2009. The sun which as usual set the evening before, rose again that virgin morning like any other day from the East with rays of hope that brought expectations for bumper sales. And buoyed with that optimism, the traders enthusiastically came for the day’s business.

But the bewildered traders as it later turned out to be, met and saw what they never bargained for. Behold a python which was beclouded in mystery that is yet to be resolved, had been killed the previous night, November 6, 2009. The traders were dumb-founded and thrown into confusion.

The traders had closed for business and went home on November 6, and as is the practice for long, security men who are in charge of the market’s safety, moved in for their own business of safeguarding the place, a task they had carried out over the years with candour, and bereft of much ado.

Their main duty of safeguarding the market was nevertheless centered around checkmating criminal activities in and around the popular market, but that night was all together different. They met a creature not common within the vicinity-a python that relentlessly fought them for over two hours before it was subdued and killed.

Chief Rems Uchendu, the Chief Security Officer of the market gave a vivid account of the mystery python’s incident. “we were on routine patrol of the market around 10p.m when one of my boys alerted me that they saw a python in the market. I was confused because I never anticipated that python could be found in such market. I immediately called the other patrol boys. On sighting us, the python stood on it’s tail, opened wide her mouth and was ready to fight us, but we made tactical withdrawal to strategize”.

Curiously the mysterious snake viciously charged forward and went after the night guards chasing them around the market. But after a period of run around and perhaps unending somersaulting, the security men summoned courage and took the battle frontally to the python. And with the help of kerosene and fuel, they were able to subdue and kill the satanic snake around 12 midnight.

Unfolding mystrey

The mystery surrounding the python started, to unfold after it was finally killed. The night guards unable to fathom what to do with the evil creature immediately, decided to cover it with a big washing-basin till the following morning. Then came the ominous. According to Uchendu, “in the morning, we took the python outside the market and poured fuel on it to set it on fire, but to our surprise, it could not be burnt. It was then we knew there was something bad”.

As surprising as this could be, a more debilitating and disturbing revelation emerged when the evil snake was dissected and a handset was been found in it’s hitherto swollen belly. This on its own added yet another dimension to the frenzy situation the mystery python had already created. It in a trust of fate turned the market into a tourist zone and generated some good cash for the night guards as they charged money from residents of the city who came from far and near to catch a glimpse of the mysterious python.

The chief security officer of the market captures the picture this ways, “the irony of the whole thing is that the mystery python turned the market into a tourist area of sorts and my boys used the opportunity to make money. The python was placed in a room inside the market and people trooped to see it and they had to pay money for that”

The python and superstition

As the news of the killing of the python spread, traders in Ahia Ohuru Aba, went into wild jubilation. Their merry stemmed from the superstitious belief that the python was responsible for the incessant loss of money they’ve incurred under mysterious circumstances in the market to which many traders had complained about. To this set of traders the snake’s death was a big relief and therefore should be celebrated.

In chief Uchendu words, “there was jubilation the day the snake was killed. This was understandable, because over a period, there had been complaints by some traders about the mysterious loss of huge sums of money they realized from sales. And to worsen the situation, some evil traders in the market who are said to have employed spiritual means to short change their colleagues, are believed to be the brains behind the mystery python’s presence in the market.” In a nutshell, what some traders lost on account of the snake’s presence in the market it was believed automatically became gain for the perceived ritual traders. Going by that account, the creature could aptly be described as a ritual python diabolically brought into the market for money-making purposes. For those who were victims and lots more, its death was a welcome development.

Prophecy propaganda and fresh fear

The traders’ reminiscence in the euphoria of their tormentor in chief’s death soon gave way to fresh fear. The reason according to the chief security officer of the market was that some concerned traders were said to have gone to a certain man of God for spiritual cleansing of the market. The cleric instead compounded the woes of the traders as he was alleged to have given them prophecy to the effect that the market would soon witness another invasion this time by two pythons with the same mission as the previous one killed.

It was one prophecy that drove fear into the minds of many traders in the market. But the chief security officer told them to fear not “It is still a mystery to me how the python found its way into a market of over two million people and which is in the heart of the city” he said in a tune filled with surprise. He added assuredly “the traders should not panic. This thing will not happen again, but if it does, we ‘ll be equal to the task”

Although the reaction of the chairman of Ngwa Road Market of the chairman (NGWAMATA), chief Ifeanyi Iboko when he was contacted on phone about the incident was like ‘aha! Why have you come to expose this?’ as he equipped, “you pressmen should leave us alone on this issue, who gave you the information?”, he rather queried. But a zonal chairman of the market Mr. Ikechukwu Olivet thought otherwise as he summed up the incident thus, “what I saw that day was more than a snake. There were three pythons that were found inside the market, but when they were attacked, two ran away and there was this prophecy that they would come back.” He admitted the mysterious loss of money by some traders which he attributed to the presence of the killed python in the market.