By Tim Binnall
A Nigerian man with a talisman said to shield bullets wound up perishing when he put the 'magical' charm to the test and discovered that it possessed no such power. According to a local media report, the unfortunate incident occurred late last month in the community of Bauchi when a witch doctor provided the piece to the victim, Muhammadu Ali, with the promise that it could protect him from gunfire. Perhaps hoping for some assurance before paying the witch doctor's fee for the odd object, the man decided to conduct a rather ill-advised experiment to see if the purportedly magical talisman could truly keep him safe.
Alongside the sorcerer and three other men, Ali headed out into a forested area near the town, donned the talisman, and instructed the sorcerer to shoot at him with a rifle. No doubt sensing that his magical reputation was on the line, the witch doctor dutifully complied and pulled the trigger, sending a bullet smashing through the charm into Ali's body. Emergency personnel quickly arrived on the scene and transported the gravely wounded man to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities subsequently arrested the sorcerer as well as the other participants in the tragic experiment and stressed to residents that participating in such tests of allegedly magical items can have a similarly tragic outcome.