Legend of the missing virgin

In the ancient town of Mesigbede in Ondo State, a series of trouble and problems of high magnitude plagued the people at this particular time in their lives.

Lots of people were dying in their prime and animals too were ravaged with terminal diseases. There was no peace in the town and there existed starvation everywhere. Even the farming business was not booming again because of the sins of the people against the gods.

The traditional ruler of the town summoned the chief priest in charge of rituals quickly and consulted him on the way out of the travails confronting the land and its people.

Pronto, the chief priest, Egundiran, came to the palace with his tools of divination and oracle. He dropped his leather bag, made of snakeskin, on the ground and began chanting esoteric and strange incantations immediately, all in a bid to unravel the mystery surrounding the troubles and miseries affecting the otherwise peaceful community.

“O king, I crave your indulgence,” Egundiran began to talk, while chewing kolanuts. “The gods are really angry with us, because we are now rude and disrespect tradition and commit evil things that are alien to our culture and morals.

“Tell us what to do, Egundiran,” the king replied in deep anxiety. “You are the light that drives away darkness. You are the only one who can tell us the mind of the gods and Almighty God and the hallowed spirits. What can we do to take us out of this terrible storm and quagmire that is consuming us by the minutes?”

“O king, according to what is being revealed to me by the gods, you need to listen carefully,” Egundiran continued, talking gently while choosing his words delicately from his fountain of wisdom. “One can only reach the Almighty God through His noble servants. The oracle never lies, the only solution is to quickly get a virgin girl, the Arugba, who would bear the rituals on her head and take it to the white shrine of the gods.

“If we can get such a virgin girl, the Arugba, like I earlier said, and she carries the ritual to the white shrine, our problems are over. Things would return to normalcy, with joy on the faces of our people as usual and everybody would be happy very soon. I have said as instructed by God Almighty, who gave me the powers of geomancy in order to foretell the future.”

In a twinkling of an eye, an18-year-old beautiful virgin named Ibukun was sought after and brought to the palace, before the king, to carry the rituals to the white shrine of the gods before the rise of the sun the following day. Preparations were in top gear to dress the virgin girl in very beautiful and expensive traditional Aso Oke clothes, with precious beads and emeralds adorning her body.

Ibukun was a dark-skinned, tall and beautiful virgin, who was the daughter of a reputable carpenter in Mesigbede town.

The following day, the whole stage was set for the carrying of the rituals to the white shrine. The rituals were inside the big brown calabash and the beautiful Ibukun delicately carried it on her head. She was about reaching the grove of the white shrine when a young man, who had been waiting secretly behind the grove, suddenly appeared and kidnapped the beautiful virgin.

The young man, who eloped with the pretty virgin, was a Lagos-based surveyor, named Esho Bolarin. He had travelled all the way from Lagos to Ondo State to look for a virgin to marry.