What usually sounds like a fairy tale turned out to be true for Bello Mustapha, a 23-year-old apprentice in a ‘Suya’ stall in Awka. According to Mustapha, he lost his manhood to a man he had all the while treated as a brother. Bello, who recounted his ordeal and that of six of his friends to DailyPost said it was a day he would never forget in a hurry. “It was last Sunday, and as usual, we were at our stand at UNIZIK junction so that we can prepare Suya early enough because of market boom on Sundays. We were all busy when the man walked up to us. “You know, here in Awka, we usually do not discriminate against our brothers, once you are a northerner, here in Awka, the people regard us as Hausa people, so a certain Fulani man walked up to us to make enquiries. “As we directed him on the enquiries he made, we did not know that he had plans to take our manhood”. Bello, who narrated further to our reporter said that “as soon as the Fulani man left, six of us, including a vulcanizer, an Igbo man, started feeling pains between our legs; we then observed that our manhood had disappeared. “We started looking for the Fulani man because we suspected him; when we found him, he denied. “On further interrogation, he accepted that he was the one who did it; he was about to make demands from us before a crowd which had gathered started beating him”. When asked if his entire manhood disappeared, Bello said that the region housing his penis was totally devoid of anything, and that a look at the region would almost make one think they were females. He added that they had peppery feelings in the area which made most of them cry like babies. An eyewitness, Mr Geoffrey, who operates a fast food centre around the area said the Fulani man had first approached him, but because he was not speaking English fluently, he found it difficult to understand him. “It was after he left my shop that we heard the Hausa boys and the vulcanizer raising alarm that their manhood had been removed by the Fulani man. “By the time we got to the place, a crowd had already beaten up the Fulani man, and I think someone called the police to avoid killing him”, Geoffrey said. Meanwhile, Bello stated that for him and his friends, they followed the man to the police station where he was interrogated by police officers and persuaded to return their manhood. “It was not until the next day that my penis came back, and I was advised to go to the hospital to be tested. “We all rushed to the hospital and after the test we were told that it was now functional, but the vulcanizer’s own was not alright”. Bello said when they returned to the hospital, the Fulani man was persuaded again to bear the cost. For the vulcanizer, Bello said he later went to his wife, since he was already married, but his manhood was still found to be malfunctional. Attempts to speak with the vulcanizer did not yield fruit. this reporter could not ascertain the fate of the Fulani magician as a call to the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, of the Anambra State police Command, DSP Emeka Chukwuemeka was not answered.
