Yaounde

Alhadji Dodo’s agent escapes death at Mokolo market
He disappeared in thin air just when traders at the market were bracing up to set fire to his body
By Tanyi Kenneth Musa in Yaounde
Vendors at the Mokolo market in Yaounde did not understand how a smallish bearded man in white gown slipped through their fingers on Friday 25 September 2015. He had been caught by a small group of energetic young men around the area where charcoal is sold and handed to a mob consisting of traders at the market, for action. But before the crowd knew, the man had disappeared in thin air.
    The latter, The Median was informed, identified as an agent of the notorious yet enigmatic Muslim occult priest Alhadji Dodo, arrived at the Mokolo market around 12 noon on that fateful day. He chose a busy corner to unveil some of his magical paraphernalia comprising a red piece of cloth, cowries, wooden rings, multicoloured beads, talismans, skulls and horns of unknown animals, small bottles containing various concoctions, etc. These items were taken out of a “Ghana must go” bag and placed on a mat which was rolled out on the floor.
    Close by was another bag – an old, solid leather one – which seemed full and remained zipped and buckled. We were told that it contained the man’s other magical articles including a talking drum plus a live snake. The snake, we further learned, would only be brought out when the magician was sure to mystically extort a huge sum of money from an onlooker.
    Many people did not appear interested in what the man was doing while he unveiled the items on the mat. But no sooner did he start voicing out incantations and inviting passersby to come to him than four young men walk up to him and gripped him by the neck and arm. One of the young men kicked and scattered the items on the mat but no one dared touch the bag. 

    “Have you come again, you little crook?” one of the men said as they pulled the magician along.
    “Ugly fool! You have grown poor over the years…and have come to fleece us again, not so?” Another said, pulling the little man’s beard with his thumb and forefinger. “You look like a Boko Haram!”
    “Were you not the one whom we warned some years ago never to step foot here again?” the first young man asked the magician.
    “It is he,” the fourth young man who had scattered the magician’s paraphernalia answered, “He has come to perform that his false magic again because he is taking all of us for fools.”
    “Since you defied our warning and came, we will bury you alive today,” the first young man said.
    Almost suffocating in the grip of the young men, the magician began to ask them to leave him alone as they approached the group of anxious traders they were pulling him to.
    Once in the hands of the former, the magician started making a hissing sound. This scared some of the people holding him who recognized the sound as that of a snake. A few of them let their grip off him while some others agreed to set fire to his body.
    But before they knew, Alhadji Dodo’s agent was gone! No one knew how he managed to flee or what direction he took. Most of them concluded that he disappeared by the help of his purported magic.