There was confusion and pandemonium at the Fagunwa Hall, University of Lagos on Tuesday night when a student allegedly declared that se was a mermaid.
According to experts, in folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including the Near East, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
The student simply identified as Olamide was said to have claimed so when another student allegedly stole her necklace.
The student she suspected was identified as Blessing, whom she was said to be squatting.
Observers however believe that Olaide might have come up with the mermaid story in a fit of anger and as a threat to whoever stole her property.
A student gave the details thus, although there is also a mention of a wristwatch:
“A girl named Blessing who is being squatted by Olamide in Fagunwa hall had a misunderstanding with her. The misunderstanding was caused by a missing wristwatch. Upon losing her necklace, Olamide suspected Blessing and immediately sent her packing from the room and also wrote long notes stating and threatening her not to ever mess with the Marine spirits frankly stating that she is one of them. This statement and notes written by the “mammy water” sparked speculations that she was an actual water goddess. Her roommates said that she only baths in the morning, upon waking, her bed is always soaked, she wakes up to soak and pour water on her leg, praying to a necklace over her bed every morning.
“These statements provoked her roommates who dragged her outside while still emphatically insisting that she’s a mermaid.
“These frustrations caused her (mammy water) to reveal that the missing necklace (the one that causes fight) makes her turn into a fish. After these confessions, the Able-bodied Alpha base were then invited into the hostel to lead her out.”
A video shared on the matter indicates that security operatives in the varsity had to intervene and take Olamide away, leading to yelling of respite by others.
More on mermaids according to Wikipedia:
In ancient Assyria the goddess Atargatis transformed herself into a mermaid out of shame for accidentally killing her human lover. Mermaids are sometimes associated with perilous events such as floods, storms, shipwrecks, and drownings. In other folk traditions (or sometimes within the same tradition), they can be benevolent or beneficent, bestowing boons or falling in love with humans.
The male equivalent of the mermaid is the merman, also a familiar figure in folklore and heraldry. Although traditions about and sightings of mermen are less common than those of mermaids, they are generally assumed to co-exist with their female counterparts. The male and the female collectively are sometimes referred to as merfolk or merpeople.
The conception of mermaids in the West may have been influenced by the Sirens of Greek mythology, which were originally half-birdlike, but came to be pictured as half-fishlike in the Christian era. Historical accounts of mermaids, such as those reported by Christopher Columbus during his exploration of the Caribbean, may have been sightings of manatees or similar aquatic mammals. While there is no evidence that mermaids exist outside folklore, reports of mermaid sightings continue to the present day.
