The Story Of Shina Rambo, Nigeria Greatest Menace
Ideologies are what define prospects, feeling boxed in with no way to express emotions many pick up ammunition and terrorize natives for the single purpose of either proving a point, following their deluded ideologies and beliefs, or mainly just trying to be heard.
Everywhere you go you hear tales of individuals who were almost seen as invincible carrying out exploits that defy the government we see people like Mohammed Alef, who lived and breathe for the purpose of frustrating the U.S.
He was later pronounced deceased after a predator missile attack on his home, although dead his story still lives on, we see Osama bin Laden and Ibrahim al-asiri master bombers who almost brought the U.S down to its knees.
But as these tales exist everywhere they also exist in Nigeria, we see the likes of Boko haram causing havoc at every nook and crannies of Nigeria but before they came to spotlight a preexisting menace was busy warming the atmosphere for them to make a grand entrance.
Shina Rambo a former bandit who wreaked havoc on Nigeria in the 1990s. After serving jail-time he ran to the Christian faith and became a convert.
Shina Rambo now known as Matthew Oluwanifemi was an image that introduced fear where ever he phased, he made the southwest of Nigeria his target and a few other countries at the outskirt of Nigeria, like the Benin Republic and so.
He was the size of a mountain, a 6ft 5inch structure of skin and muscle covered in excess melanin and having bloodshot eyes stuck to his head, one can say how he carried out his operation inspired the creation of many heist movies.
He carried out his villainous acts in broad daylight, with advanced weapons, bullet belts and he ran around with explosives hanging around him, he was a man of zero ethics and from what we know he was bold and fearless.
He plundered exotic cars on highways and robbed banks. Flattening whoever stood in his way, he was unstoppable, the efforts made by security operatives to put a halt to this moving armoured tank of violence were classified as a crow circus performance.
He was invincible. Mainly because he was Shina Rambo! He was born in the year 1958 to a military man who was referred to as “rotten egg” in the service.
His father hailed from Abeokuta in Ogun state, but his mother was an inmate of Sabongida-Ora in Edo state. His father had a record number of 18 wives following the tradition of all military personnel to impregnate every woman they come across where ever they resided.
It is almost as if the theft was a virtue in their family as his father used his military statutory position to rob innocent individuals.
He always came home with an inflated ego as well as an inflated bag of money some of which were stained with blood, Shina always inquired from his father whose blood it was but always received the cold shoulder, as his father very much enjoyed merrymaking, something he rather does than answer tactical jabs of questions from his son.
The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. Shina became exposed to the world of violence at a tender age as he always got a visual of his father dismantling and reassembling all sorts of weapons and then giving them a squeaky clean shine in preparation for an operation.
It became a continuous process till his brain mastered all procedures to be taken in assembling a gun and doing the opposite, he tested this roughly gained knowledge the day he stepped into his father’s room and found a dismantled gun.
Shina assembled it in no time after his father saw this, with disappointment written all over his face he attempted to silence his son at the spot but missed, he watched his son scurry away from his room in fear, he repeated this same motif but executed it with a different action he waited for a sombre moment when Shina would be less alert.
That night he equipped himself with a machete, walked into Shina’s room to behead him but failed, Shina testified to this very act by showing proof in form of a large scar on his leg.
Shina became notorious in dubious acts in no time he was hell-bent on being a prolific armed robber. In order to achieve such a dream, he did everything humanly possible to secure spiritual powers for fortifications.
For this single reason he had no problem pounding the total estimated number of 27 babies with a pestle, so far he was going to get spiritual aid in his work he didn’t see the screams of the humans he cut off their tongues as a deterrent (he went further to cook and eat them), visiting the spiritual river called the river of life in Ogoja, Cross river became his hobby.
He took living in an iroko tree seriously and sleeping in the cemetery was something he did with zeal.
He obtained a spiritual wife, a helpmate that accompanied him for all his operation, she paraded herself dressing like an Alhaja, no one ever suspected she was mystic. He said she was his copilot in his operations and his driver, that within the twinkle of an eye she could shift his location from Nigeria to Cotonou using a car.
He said:
I was involved in so many rituals, that naming all of them is impossible, I was so powerful, I went underground, inside trees that looked like a city, a lot of beautiful houses inside a tree, I have my own too, where a lot of politicians and wealthy men used to come”.
He confessed that his power helped him shift his form and changed his personality, fooling the police who killed innocent people thinking it was Shina Rambo.
Shina became stronger than the nine herbalists that gave him his power, in order to protect his secrets he went back to their shrine and killed them all.
This wasn’t fiction it was once someone’s reality, his spiritual wife was very resourceful in driving she could take them anywhere in the world making it exceedingly “impossicant” to be caught in an operation. She would be withdrawn from him the moment an operation was over mainly because her time has elapsed.
The elders that govern his secret society knew who he was and the extent he was willing to go just to accumulate power, so they gave him all he wanted. Shina once beheaded 100 men without remorse and served their heads at the feet of the elders, exploding with elation they made him invincible.
He was impervious to all kinds of ammunitions that served man. He was willing to climb all and any mountain to gain power but the one that broke his heart was having an intimate affair with his mother.
Shina Rambo was feared, he was a walking terror, he was 7 times more deadly than dangerous to the point that it would be right to say outer space exists because it is too afraid to live in the same place with Shina Rambo. he could easily walk into a police station and waste every single life present and exit unscathed.
He once robbed 40 exotic cars in one day and drove all of them in a convoy from Lagos to Cotonou, unapproached. He was dreaded, he wore wealth around him like a belt, he was unstoppable, inapprehensible, he was a messed up god. It was Shina Rambo!.
He had a lovely wife and 3 children, a police raid claimed their life in a single day, his wife was his pulley, probably weighing him down back to earth, telling him he was still human. He operated at day and came back to sleep with his wife at night, she knew his job and what he did for a living, the fear of being endangered made him spend a lot of time with his wife. He had everything, he said:
I was wealthy, I sometimes spent 50 million Naira a day, I did that a lot. There was one day that we were coming from an operation and it seemed as if my power would fail, the police and army were closing in on us, so we had to drive into a crowd and throw millions of naira in the air, there was a commotion everybody was busy picking the money including the police until we escaped”.
It was an established fact that Shina was rich, but every gift got from the devil never last, he’ll loot your life in return.
It is only the devil that can give you a fancy shoe and demand for your legs in return, sooner than expected he lost it all, his family, his wealth, everything was gone, he turned himself in and received an 11-year jail sentence.
It was from there he witnessed the transforming power of God, while serving his jail term in Agodi prison, Ibadan he received administration from prophet T.O Obadare several times and was later encouraged to surrender his life to Christ, he was prayed for and he received a new name which was Femi.
It was during the President Olusegun Obasanjo regime he was granted amnesty and released, he emerged as a new man and he later went on to make his confession on an open ground revival in Ibadan.