ONITSHA, ANAMBRA STATE — Traders and shoppers at the popular Ochanja Main Market in Onitsha, Anambra State, were thrown into complete confusion and state of shock after a live snake was discovered inside a public address loudspeaker brought to the market for repairs by a local pastor.
The dramatic incident unfolded at the electronics and sound equipment section of the market when the cleric brought in a heavy-duty portable speaker that had reportedly stopped working during church activities.
According to eyewitnesses and traders in the vicinity, the technician set the speaker on his workbench and proceeded to unscrew the rear casing to inspect the internal wiring. As the back panel was removed, the repairer reportedly dropped his tools and screamed in terror, alerting neighboring shop owners.
Traders rushed to the scene to find a live snake coiled around the internal components, woofers, and power transformers of the sound unit.
The unexpected discovery immediately sparked pandemonium across the line, as panicked traders and customers scampered for safety, fearing both the physical danger of a venomous bite and potential spiritual undertones surrounding the object.
“The pastor brought the big speaker for maintenance, saying the sound was cracking and cutting out,” an eyewitness trader at Ochanja market recounted. “When the artisan opened the back, everybody thought it was burnt wires or a blown capacitor. Instead, a thick snake was sitting right inside the cabinet. The technician ran out of his shop in shock.”
A massive crowd quickly gathered around the stall to catch a glimpse of the bizarre sight, with many recording videos of the scene. The incident degenerated into intense arguments and heated confrontations among onlookers. While some market vendors attributed the presence of the reptile to natural causes—suggesting the cold, hollow wooden cabinet of the speaker may have provided a dark shelter for the snake in an unpaved church compound—a larger section of the crowd confronted the pastor, accusing him of ritualistic practices or “arrangee” spiritual gimmicks.
Efforts by the visibly embarrassed clergyman to explain that the snake must have quietly crawled into the speaker cabinet through a port hole at his church premises did little to douse the rising tension.
The snake was eventually killed and removed from the device by brave traders using iron rods, while market security guards stepped in to control the surging crowd and maintain order before the situation could escalate further.
