In a series of shocking allegations that have left his parents
heartbroken, a 21-year-old undergraduate, Demilade
Osholonge, who was initially reported as kidnapped, has
accused his father and mother of engaging in occultism
which he alleged was behind the many spiritual attacks he
had been experiencing since he was 17.
Demilade spoke with our correspondent in hiding,
maintaining that he would never return home to his father,
Mr. Fatayi Osholonge, a lawyer and his mother, Olufunke,
who is an evangelist.
Soft-spoken, with a mien that gave a hint of the affluent
home he came from (a fact he confirmed), Demilade went
into a narration that sounded much like a story out of a
novel.
He told our correspondent, “It started when I was 10 years
old and I started to see a young boy with blood coming out
of his mouth.
“Sometimes, I saw the boy in a dream, sometimes I saw
him even when I was wide awake but I was always the only
one seeing him. I told my parents about it but they waved it
off as mere dreams.
“It continued till I was 17 and I started to bleed from the
mouth as well. The first time it happened, I just noticed
blood coming out of my mouth. I would wake up
sometimes and blood would be coming out of my mouth.
Sometimes, I would be wide awake and notice the taste of
blood in my mouth.”
Asked what step his parents took when he told them, he
alleged that they did not take him to the hospital for a
checkup even after seeing the blood.
In the family home at Ajah area of Lagos, Demilade alleged
that he frequently experienced spiritual attacks. He was
asked to elaborate.
“Sometimes, I feel someone beating me while I sleep
without actually seeing the person. Sometimes, I would lie in
bed and not be able to move my body at all no matter how
hard I try,” he said.
He told our correspondent that he became so frustrated
with the strange experiences and the fact that he never got
help.
“As the years went on, I started noticing that my parents
were engaging in occultism activities because they visit
herbalists and strange prophets,” he alleged. When asked
what evidence he had of such activities, Demilade said they
sometimes took him along.
Demilade also alleged that in 2014, his parents took him to
two Ifa priests in Ondo town in Ondo State, during which
incisions were made on his waist. He lifted his shirt and
showed the incisions on the left side of his waist.
He told Saturday PUNCH that the bleeding from the mouth
continued despite the visit to the priests.
Our correspondent asked whether Demilade’s other siblings
in the house also experienced anything similar to the claims
he made in his allegation and he explained that when he
discussed it with his younger sisters, they told him none of
them experienced such things.
How then did he arrive at the conclusion that his parents
were behind his “spiritual attacks?” Demilade alleged that
his suspicion became clearer to him when he ran away from
home.
He said, “I was a 200 level Mass Communication
undergraduate at the Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, but I
decided to drop out so that I could be out of reach of my
parents.
“After I fled from home, I told my step-brother (Michael
Ebun), who is my mother’s son from a previousmarriage,
about my problem and he took me to the house of a
prophetess, Mrs. Mercy Oyebo. As soon as we got to the
woman’s house, she prayed for me and I vomited blood.
“I got deliverance and gave my life to Christ right away.
Since that day, I have not vomited blood. I have been a
good Christian since then.
“I stayed along with my step-brother in the woman’s house
between March and April 2015 for intense prayer sessions.
We left after the sessions and I have been living with a
friend at Maryland since then.
“But I realised my parents were behind my problems when
my mother started calling and cursing me over the phone.
She said she would make me run mad. There was a time
she was reciting incantation when she called me and I
froze.”
Demilade declined to disclose his current home address.
“My parents are rich, they are using my destiny, that is why
they want me back home desperately,” he alleged.
He said life is hard for him currently because he no longer
enjoyed the affluence of his parents but maintained that he
would rather suffer physically than be turned into an
imbecile.
Asked about the motive behind bringing his story to the
public, Demilade alleged that his parents got his step-
brother (Ebun) arrested on charges of kidnapping.
“They locked him up for three days for kidnapping me. He
only tried to help me. I have even spoken with the police on
the phone that I was not kidnapped, but they insisted that I
should come over to Panti (Department of Criminal
Investigation, Yaba), where the case has been transferred
to. If I went there, they would hand me over to my parents,”
he said.
Saturday PUNCH learnt that Ebun has since been released
on bail.
But issues took a different dimension when our
correspondent contacted Demilade’s parents. They
maintained they could only speak in the presence of
investigators at the DCI.
During the encounter at the DCI, Mrs. Osholonge said she
believed her son was still holed up in the prophetess’ house
and that she had hypnotised him to the point that he was
not thinking straight.
Demilade’s mother gave an off-the-record detailed
narration of what she believed was the reason behind his
son’s strange behaviour, but she insisted she did not want
this information published.
When asked how she would respond to the allegations of
occultism, spiritual attack, visits to the herbalists,
incantations and curses made by her son, she said all she
wanted was to have her son back.
Our correspondent learnt that indeed there was an open
case of conspiracy and kidnapping on Demilade’s issue,
which the prophetess (Oyebo) is still wanted for.
A police officer who is familiar with the investigation said,
“We have spoken with this woman (Oyebo) on the phone.
All we need is for her to come and give her side of the
story. But all she did was send me a nasty insult by SMS. If
she did nothing wrong, why is she in hiding?” He showed
our correspondent the SMS.
The officer also said the police need Demilade to come
forward to prove that he was indeed not kidnapped.
But Oyebo has said the officer was the one who first spoke
rudely to him after she called him to explain her side of the
story.
When our correspondent spoke with Oyebo, she alleged that
she had made several attempts to see Demilade’s mother
but that she had refused to show up. But Demilade’s
mother said Oyebo is the one who had been avoiding her.
The prophetess said, “Did the boy sound like someone who
was hypnotised when you spoke with him? I told the boy to
go to the office of the police public relations office to
present himself and he did.
“I wanted to have a talk with the mother because the steps
the boy was taking were not good for the family. I wanted
the matter resolved. I did not want him to live like a
homeless child. But she refused to show up.
“The boy said there were so many things he knew about his
parents which was why they wanted him back so he does
not spill the secrets. If the boy said going to his parents
would mean the end for him, would I be the one to drag him
to them?
“I swear to God almighty the boy is not under my roof. I
realise that if the boy is handled with care, he might just
travel out of the country if he finds the means.
“I have reported this case at the National Human Rights
Commission in Lagos. I have been advised to write a
petition to the assistant inspector-general of police, Zone 2,
Onikan Lagos and send a copy to the Lagos State
commissioner of police. After I have filed the petition, I will
show up and we will tell Demilade to come and tell the
police if I kidnapped him or not.”
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