Africa’s belief in black magick and the occult has never really been a big secret, from stories of child sacrifices to flogging potions to destroy witches. However police in Kwara State, west Nigeria have gone one further and detained a goat on suspicion of attempted grand theft auto. A Mazda 323 to be specific. This reminded me of a story from the Nigerian Tribune last year where a cat that had been hit by a motorcycle suddenly transformed into a woman and was set upon by bandits who almost killed her.

Anyway apparently a vigilante group spotted two men in the stolen Mazda and apprehended them where one escaped and the other used black magick to turn himself into a goat in order to evade the group. They then cleverly shepherded it to the local police station. A spokesman for the police, Tunde Mohammed, put a dent on the public backslapping when he stated that the police would require ’scientific proof’ that any transformation that may have taken place before the goat could be charged. Apparently circumstantial mysticism isn’t evidence enough for the police to charge a goat with attempted robbery of a car. Not even in Nigeria.

The goat remains in police custody where locals have been flocking to the station to try and capture a glimpse of the goats prospective supernatural powers and unholiness.

JONATHAN ROCKWELL