7 Creepy Nigerian Folklores

Nigeria is a country with so many myths, traditional beliefs, customs, and stories that are usually passed down to generations by word of mouth and superstitions, its not only nigeria though, africa as a whole believe so much in superstitutions. below are 7 creepy folklores told in nigeria

 

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7. WHISTLING AT NIGHT

In some parts of Nigeria, it is believed that if you whistle at night, you will either wake the dead, who will whistle back at you and just may escort you back to their graves or call snakes to yourselves who just may bite you.

6. THE PLAITS

The story is commonly told in Nigerian boarding schools, not all though. Now take note that in most Nigerian schools, girls must have their hair in plaits/cornrows. Anyway the story goes like this; “long time ago, there was a girl whose hair was the finest, it was always beautifully made, but whenever her friends asked who made her hair, the girl would reply and say it was a very shy and quiet friend of hers, well her friends got tired of asking and dropped the subject. Until one night, one of her roommates woke up and let out a scream, there was the girl headless, plaiting her own head.”

 

5. BUSH BABIES

Noises in the night can make anyone jump, especially if its the sound of a crying baby.

The bush baby is a myth used to scare boarding school students into minding their business and staying indoors in the night.

According to stories, the bush baby cries like a baby, and anyone who goes out to help, usually are never seen again. Some say, bush babies kill and eat their victims right there, while others say they drag them down to hell.”

4. MADAM KOI KOI (LADY IN RED)

Madam Koi koi is the most popular story told to all boarding school students in Nigeria. One of the versions of madam koi koi goes like this:

She used to be a pretty lady till her friends in the hostel refused to give her beans. Out of anger she ran into the bush in the night and made a pact with an evil spirit which made her to be walking upside down. To this day she walks the earth, looking for those her friends that denied her beans. She can enter rooms in the night, and if you ever hear her tell tale sound, koi koi koi, you immediately close your eyes and don’t open them until the sound of her heel fades, if you do otherwise. Well, death is all that awaits you.

3. MAMMY WATER

This is a river goddess who is described as a beautiful and graceful being, a woman who is half human and half fish, a mermaid. This goddess as its told is out for an easy slave to carry back to her watery kingdom to serve her and her sisters for as long as they wish. Another belief is that, if you find one brushing her hair by the beach at night, she will swim away and leave her comb behind, if you pick up this comb, she will appear to you in your dreams asking for it back, in exchange for money, any amount you want.

Another belief also is that if she should buy something from your store the money she paid with will keep on multiplying every night in your purse until she comes back to collect it.

2. THE INEDIBLE FISH

There is a river in Kogi state which is said to be cursed, and if you catch a fish from there, no matter how much you try to cook it, it will always remain raw. Plus if you ever get injured by the bone of any fish in that river, the injury will never heal.

1. THE SPIRIT KNOCK

In some parts of Nigeria it’s believed that if you should bend down and look in-between your legs in a market place you stand a chance of receiving a knock from a spirit. According to my grandma, this market spirits do this because they don’t want any human to see them for whom they truly are. Apparently they walk on air and bending down and looking in between your legs serve as a portal of some sort that when utilized will expose them for who they truly are.

Uzonna Anele
Uzonna Anele
Anele is a web developer and a Pan-Africanist who believes bad leadership is the only thing keeping Africa from taking its rightful place in the modern world.

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