By: Nurudeen Akewushola
The whole lecture hall was thrown into chaos after a young lady lost her consciousness and began to throw seeming epileptic fits. Immediately the incident happened the victim had been surrounded by her colleagues and they carried her away from the lecture hall. This reporter followed the carrier of the victim with the hope that the lady would be taken to the hospital but was surprised to see the lady was put down to the outside of the lecture hall where one of her colleagues recited Arabic verses on her and the victim regained her consciousness within a short period.
There was uproar among the people who were present at the scene that seemed to suggest that she was possessed by a spirit .
The belief that supernatural beings (Jinn )can make human beings to lose their consciousness thereby making them to utter blasphemous statements ,speak strange languages and exhibit epileptic characteristics is widely accepted by some theologians and psychologists in some part of Nigeria especially Northern Nigeria where Usmanu Danfodiyo University is located. According to the Islamic theologians, Demonic distortion happens in two ways. Either the victim inherits it, or the victim is possessed by it which is caused by the victim clashing unknowingly in the spiritual world with this creature.
In an interview with one of the victims,Umar Aishat, she expressed how much her parent struggled in order to find solution to her predicament. " I have no idea what is going on whenever the jinn rises in me because I usually lose consciousness but I notice how it happens to some of my colleagues. My parents have tried a lot when I was young to remedy this through several medical approaches, however whenever I am tested nothing is found. Some of the doctors that I met with also admitted that the problem is caused by the supernatural beings", she said.
She also explained that her predicament has made her reluctant to participate in public events due to the fact she had no idea when the demon could rise and embarrass her. "Some times I avoid participating in public gatherings to avoid embarrassment, sometimes it happens during lectures and because of that the lecture has to be put to an end. Other times I am not able to continue the lecture again due to the shame. There was a time that it happened to me during the matriculation day", she lamented.
She also added that Some students usually stigmatise her due to the belief that they might contact the disease from her by interaction. Other female students avoid sharing things with me and some say that they cannot be friends with somebody that is possessed with jinn", she said.
Another student who simply identified herself as Kauthar explained some other ways in which the Demon can possess people. "Jinns are invisible creatures,they can possess one when one exposes her hair under trees, when one mistakenly pours hot water on them and then cause people to act irrationally", she said. Investigations revealed that victims of this problem are mentally fit when a psychiatrical or medical test is carried out on them and they are usually referred to the traditional doctors or Clerics. This implies that the problem is beyond the Medical scope. Can a doctor diagnose if the patients problem is not identified ?
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