Odeshi Charm or Juju: African Traditional Bullet Proof
Let’s talk about Odeshi Charm or Juju: African Traditional Bullet Proof. This topic is a salient practice that is gradually becoming a norm. I mean, people are getting odeshi day by day and no one is talking about it.
To start with, what is Odeshi? Odeshi is a popular Igbo slang that emanated from an Igbo Movie that mimicked a notorious armed robber “Deriko”. Deriko was the first person who said odeshi
So, in that movie, a character who played the role of Deriko was known as “Deri Nwamama”. Whenever he came face to face in a gun battle with the security men, he kept screaming: “odeshi! odeshi!” each time bullets were fire at him.
Odeshi means ‘o dighi eshi’, ‘o dighi ehi’, or ‘o dighi epu‘ which means it is not leaking or it is not penetrating. It can also mean, it is not opening. On the other way round, odeshi can mean, nothing is happening or I am covered.
This slang is a sort of bragging. The person who is being shot at is saying that the bullet is not penetrating. “O dighi eshi”. It is not opening and blood is not leaking.
This was actually what Deriko was saying whenever the Police fired at him until he was killed one day by someone who knew the other trick which Deri knew.
Ever since then, people nickname any charms that protect people against bullets piercing, odeshi. We often use the word; “O gworo odeshi”. Meaning, the person has gone to obtain charms against bullet piercing. It also means the person is indestructible or unkillable.
Odeshi Charm or Juju: African Traditional Bullet Proof
In case, you don’t know, odeshi is one of the words most searched by people. By my finding, people are asking daily where they can get odeshi charms. They are also asking how much it will cost to get odeshi charms.
Insecurity and the rise of crime in society have given rise to the demand for odeshi charm or juju. People young and old are looking for some sort of protection from oppressors.
In Nigeria, we are seeing so many people displaying this odeshi charm or juju. Someone like Sunday Igboho no longer hides his. He wears his as part of his clothes. The gun battles between the Nigerian Army and IPOB Eastern Security Network show odeshi charms at work.
This is actually one of the reasons why the IPOB members have been branded, unseen gunmen. Recently, during the 2021 IPOB sit at home order, I saw via Facebook where the Nigeria Army was firing at some boys at Ebonyi State.
Instead of running back, the boys were screaming “onunuu!” and was chasing after the Military men who were running even while shooting. Once I saw the video, I knew odeshi or otumokpo is at work.
Odeshi Charm or Juju: African Traditional Bullet Proof
Odeshi has been recognized as the African traditional bulletproof. It protects the wearer against bullet penetration. Obtaining this charm is not a child’s play. There have been several reports of people who died while testing the effectiveness of the odeshi charm done for them.
I have read an article on a confession of someone who had gone for odeshi charm. He said he paid #50,000 (fifty thousand Naira) to the native doctor. He also said there are other tasks associated with it.
Some people spent days inside a coffee before their odeshi charm or juju is activated. In most cases too, it involves human sacrifices and self-denial like total abstinence from sexual intercourse.
In most cases too, the person is given the charm to swallow or to wear as an amulet or a ring. I heard someone who was given an odeshi power revealing the secret of his own charm.
According to him, any time he is going out, he must pour sand inside his legs. That is, if he is wearing socks, he must pour sand inside the socks before wearing them.
The rule here is, his legs must be touching the sandy ground for him to be protected. So any time he is running, with the sand under his legs, he is protected.
Even if you hang him on a top chimney, the sand on his legs still serves as sandy ground. Bullets can never penetrate his body.
Odeshi; the Evil in our Society
Looking at what society has become today, we cannot totally condemn Odeshi charm. There is actually some good in it.
For instance, the defunct Bakassi Boys in the East used it to reduce if not put to end criminality and evil that were about destroying Igbo land.
However, it is being condemned today because many people have started using it for their selfish interests. An article in thecable.ng points to hard drugs like cocaine and hemp, native doctors, and odeshi charm as the root of all evils.
