Two out of four young men, whose desire for riches led them to the shrine of one Nana Ogya at Aburi New-Town in the Eastern Region, have turned into snakes. The two suffered that fate because they failed to put the menstrual pads of their girlfriends into some ritual pots, which were given them by the fetish priest.

Kofi Adjei, 28, Kwame Tetteh, 28, Yaw Goro, 26 and Filco, 23, were said to be masons and hailed from Sakyikrom except Filco who hailed from Teacher Mante in the Eastern Region. Filco and Goro told the Daily Guide newspaper that they had done everything possible to be rich but were still poor and got envious of their friends who rode in big cars. They therefore decided to go for money ritual and were introduced to Nana Ogya at Aburi. When they consulted the fetish priest on May 27, 2009, they were charged GH¢500.00 each. Since they did not readily have the money, they left after promising to bring it during their next visit, by which time they would have brought the menstrual pad, which was demanded by Nana Ogya.

Two weeks ago, the four went to Nana Ogya with money but it was only Filco and Goro that had fulfilled the other part of the requirement by producing the menstrual pads. When Nana Ogya asked why the two others failed to comply, they remained silent and never gave any explanation. Nana Ogya reminded them of an earlier warning that they could become animals or die for flouting his orders.

The priest however performed the money-making rituals and gave back the pots to the four for safekeeping in their closets with the assurance that Goro and Filco would start enjoying their money two weeks after, by which time the money-making spirits would have been invoked. On Tuesday July 21, 2009, however, the homes of Kofi and Kwame became scenes of confusion when their relations started shouting for help over the sudden transformation of their kins into Royal African Pythons.Filco and Goro had to disclose the secret behind the snake-men. However, the two also became dumb soon after. This threw the whole village of Sakyi into a frenzy.

Quickly, the parents of the snake-men who had heard about one Mallam Fatau at Borkorborkor Junction, Ablekuma, Accra, headed for his sanctuary in the hope of having their kins turned back into humans and healed of dumbness. When Daily Guide got to the scene at Mallam Fatau’s sanctuary yesterday, a large crowd had gathered to catch a glimpse of the snake-men. When this reporter was allowed into the chambers of Mallam Fatau, the two dumb men, dressed in white garments with a red calico band tied around their waists, were being taken through a purification process to ‘free’ them, while their relatives sat closely by, weeping.

The snakes, which were then in a clay pot, vomited huge sums of foreign currency mainly dollars, which Mallam Fatau threw into the air. While some onlookers scrambled for the notes, others feared they might be victims of strange ailments if they took the money home; so they avoided even touching it. Mallam Fatau folded incense in a white calico after healing the two of their infirmity and asked them to hold on to it as they repeated some words after him.The calico miraculously caught fire after which they were taken to the beach for cleansing. At the shores of Kokrobite, one of Mallam Fatau’s errand boys, Aziz, who took the boys through the cleansing process, first poured libation with a bottle of Kasapreko gin, a local alcoholic beverage. He then ordered the boys to undress, leaving only their boxers pants.

Aziz put each of the two snakes around the necks of the two survivors and chanted some incantations before fetching the sea water to bathe them. One could see the two boys were shuddering with fear as the snakes licked their salted bodies. Soon, the cleansing was over and the two were driven to Mallam Fatau’s residence at Nyamekye where they were allowed to tell their story, dressed in their white apparel with red calico bands around their necks. Yaw Goro and the other who wanted to be known only as Filco, advised Ghanaian youth to be good Christians and wait on the Lord to meet their needs. They said they deeply regretted parting with their GH¢500.00 each only to go through such an awful ordeal. They swore never to engage in occultism again. When asked if the story was not just a fairy-tale, the two said it really happened.

Mallam Fatau however noted that he embarked on a search yesterday to arrest Nana Ogya whom he said had some oil in his possession that could turn the snakes back into humans. However, on his way, the engine of his vehicle died, making it impossible to reach his destination on time. He averred that he would do everything possible to arrest Nana Ogya or travel to Yeji in the Brong-Ahafo Region where he would bring some of the oil and a kind of talcum powder to smear on the two snakes to become humans again.

Mallam Fatau, who could not tell the exact amount the snake-men vomited, is currently feeding the snakes with fresh meat until they became humans.,He called on the public to desist from engaging in ritual money-making adding, “As for ritual money you may get the money but without peace.”He promised that when all was set for the transformation of the two snakes into humans, he would inform the media so reporters who doubted the snakes were humans would witness the transformation process.