2022
Uboma Town, South-Eastern Nigeria.
It's been about 50 years since the events that took place at St. Alice Catholic Girls College. Uboma over the years, has evolved into a big town.
There were now many big buildings everywhere and big businesses have moved into the town making it an economic hub in that area of the state.
St. Alice Catholic Girls College have also become one of the biggest schools in the state, attracting children of wealthy and influencial figures in the the state and beyond to it because of the school's excellent academic records and morality levels.
The school had remained a mission school, run by the Catholic Church which maintained strict standards to ensure the school produced the best students at the end of every session.
Sister Agnes had retired twenty years ago. She was now in her late eighties. Father Patrick had long died.
Sister Agnes and Father Patrick had told her successor, the story behind the grave guarded by four iron rods and a big padlocked chain.
Sister Ruth, as unbelievable as the story had sounded, believed it because of the caliber of people who told her about the events of that time.
She let the old priest continue his visitations until his death five years after.
A new priest would take over and also continue regular visits to the grave, fortifying the spells put around it as agreed.
A new Bishop in 2018 who brought about the modernisation of the school, would hear about the story surrounding the grave from the principal at that time and dismiss it.
"What rubbish," he declared. "Are you telling me that this has been going on for years? And Father Patrick may God rest his soul, was in support of it? I won't drag his memory to the mud but this practice ends today. The Chief Priest is barred from entering the premise in the name of conducting any spiritual fortification of that grave."
The Chief Priest was stopped by the gateman on his next visit and the new principal, Sister Agatha, would communicate the instructions of the Bishop to him.
"You're making a very grave mistake Sister," the Chief Priest warned. "The repercussions have far reaching effects as it could affect the town as well if Evelyn's spirit finds it's way out from her confines."
"It is out of my hands," Sister Agatha stated. "The Bishop's word is final on this matter."
The Chief Priest took the matter to the Traditional ruler of Uboma, himself a Catholic, and the Eze-in-Council, a group of titled men in the town that help the Traditional ruler make decisions, were called in to debate the matter.
A lot of them were Catholics and didn't want to be on the wrong side of the Bishop.
It was a divided house as some urged the Traditional ruler to uphold the traditions of the land.
"I will speak to the Bishop," the Traditional ruler finally said.
The Bishop was adamant. He would not have the Chief Priest of a local deity operate freely on lands owned by the Catholic Church.
"We own the premises and we decide what happens within it," the Bishop insisted. "When the land was given to the missionaries, it was a waste land, used for fetish rituals. It was called an evil forest. We liberated the land of all evil and today, even the surrounding forests which we didn't take back then but we're still regarded then as evil, have now become lucrative land for you and your community. I will not tolerate the presence of any native doctor coming to perform rituals in that school. We know how to handle such issues if and when they arise, Igwe."
There was nothing the Traditional ruler or his council of chiefs and titled men could do. The Bishop was right, the Catholic Church had the final say on what happens within their premises.
They made an appeal to the State government which was also led by a Catholic and the governor for political reasons, decided not to get into battle with the Catholic Church over the visitation rights of a native priest.
The Chief Priest left the palace of the Traditional ruler that evening feeling very worried.
There was nothing the Traditional ruler or his council of chiefs and titled men could do about the decision of the church. It was an event that happened many years ago and for those who were still alive, their memory of the events of that period wasn't reliable. Some members of the council of chiefs and titled men dismissed the story as a hoax and a ploy by the native priest to have some control over the church.
The Chief Priest went straight to his shrine after leaving the palace of the Traditional ruler.
He threw himself before his oracles and cried out.
"Great calamity is about to befall our land my gods," he lamented. "Now, more than ever, we need your guidance."
But the gods were silent.
A week later, Sister Agatha the new principal, would reach out to Sister Agnes. Sister Agnes was now very old and lived in a convent in the state capital. They agreed to meet.
The old nun welcomed the younger woman into her room.
"How are my girls treating you?" Sister Agnes asked. "Hope they're not too much of a handful."
"I've been managing to contain them," Sister Agatha replied. "They can be a handful at times but I'm gradually getting the hang of it."
"That is good," Sister Agnes smiled. "So what is this you say you wanted to talk to me about?"
"I don't know how to start this," Sister Agatha said.
"You can start anywhere," the old nun smiled at the young woman. "Tell me, what is the matter?"
"It's about a grave in the graveyard at the church," Sister Agatha said. She noticed the smile vanish from Sister Agnes' face immediately.
"Evelyn's grave," Sister Agnes said quietly.
"Yes," Sister Agatha replied. That is the one. Please what can you tell me about it and the woman buried there? I've heard quite a lot of stories and I want to hear from you. You were there almost fifty years ago, is there something I should know about that place?"
Sister Agnes remained silent for a moment. Her eyes wandered to the open window in the room as she looked out into the field beyond.
"Get me some water there," she finally turned back to look at Sister Agatha.
Sister Agatha opened the small refrigerator Sister Agnes had pointed at and brought a bottled water to the old woman.
She took a long drink then slowly dropped the plastic bottle on the small table beside her bed.
"I'm going to tell you about a young woman I loved as a sister and a friend," she said. "I'm going to tell you a sad story and I'm going to tell you some unbelievable stories."
Sister Agnes told the young woman about Miss Evelyn Offor.
"She was my best teacher," Sister Agatha said. "Some thought she was too strict, high handed, but she was simply disciplined. She loved St. Alice and the girls so much and only wanted the best for that place and those girls.
"She could never hurt the girls. Yes, she dished out corporal punishment to offenders and she didn't tolerate laziness or stupidity but her heart was in the right place as far as those girls were concerned. They were all she had.
"You see, Evelyn lost her parents when she was very young. She was an only child. We didn't talk about where she came from, she never really told me. All I know was that she was raised by a missionary who took her back to Rome with him and she was raised by the church.
"She didn't see her path in life as a nun but she wanted to work for the church. She have always liked teaching and St. Alice suited her just fine."
Sister Agatha told the young woman how Evelyn was abused by some village miscreants.
"She didn't tell me," Sister Agnes lamented. "I wished over and over that she had felt the need to talk to me instead of taking her own life.
"It must have been such a horrible experience for her. We found her the next day. She had killed herself. She prayed all through the night and died with her Bible and rosary. I can still remember how that room was when we broke into it."
She picked up the plastic bottle and drank some water.
"A few days later," Sister Agnes continued. "All hell was let loose. The men who raped her were tormented by unseen forces and we're later found hanging from a tree at the exact spot they had raped Evelyn.
"But she wasn't yet done. She was very angry, oh, very angry. She came for the girls that set her rape in motion and they confessed to their crimes.
"But Evelyn wanted more. She wasn't ready to go. She felt her mission wasn't over in the school, in life, she wanted to dish out punishment to every offenders in the town.
"Father Patrick, God rest his soul, and a few of us tried to perform an exorcism to put her soul to rest.
"What I saw that night is beyond explanation. I didn't believe in demons or spirits before that night until I saw her manifestation and the havoc she wrecked.
"That was when we entered a secret pact with the native priest and that was the only way her angry spirit was contained. I hope it is still contained?"
"That is one of the things I came to talk to you about," Sister Agatha replied. "The Bishop found out about the arrangement with the native priest and ordered it to stop."
"No," Sister Agnes cried in anguish. "He doesn't know what he is doing, he didn't see what I saw with my own eyes, this is a very big mistake he is making."
"Do you really believe in this whole ghost story?" Sister Agatha asked.
"I don't need to believe it," Sister Agnes said. "I lived it. You must tell the Bishop he is making a very big mistake."
"I'll see what I can do," Sister Agatha replied. She had no intentions of bringing this discussion to the Bishop. The old woman must have lost her mind.
"You better," Sister Agnes looked at very with a very serious state. "You don't know the forces that lies beyond this chains. I know what we all saw back then. Heaven help St. Alice and Uboma town if Evelyn finds her way out of her confinement. Please leave me."
Sister Agatha returned to Uboma and went straight to the grave. The tombstone was old and faded and the name on the stone was barely readable.
She didn't believe what the old nun had told her. It was impossible. There was nothing like ghosts.
A few days later, Sister Agnes died in her sleep. In her belongings was an old faded picture she took with Evelyn at St. Alice.
That night, a faint form appeared within the grave. The old night watchman was making his rounds when he could have sworn that he saw a pair of red high heeled shoes in the grave site.
When he looked closer, it wasn't there anymore. He decided to keep what he had seen to himself. He used to have a drinking problem and talking about what he saw that night might make people believe he had gone back to the comfortable of the bottle.