THE STORY OF NIGERIA'S MOST FAMOUS MAGICIAN PROFESSOR PELLER AND HOW HE WAS ASSASSINATED IN 1997

Professor Peller The magician was one of the Nigerians that opened Nigerian to what magic was. He is the father of Shina Peller the popular socialite, he always moved with huge and electrified crowd thronging after a his slowly-moving convoy.

At the center was a white limousine and from the sun roof, was a man full of charming smiles, waving to the frenzied crowd, he looked very smart, handsome and he was also wearing white, all white, the hat too was white. It was quite a dazzling spectacle. The limo was headed towards the city stadium where he had a show. For about thirty years, Peller held the world’s most populous black nation spellbound with millions gasping at the whisk of his wand. I hope you find this magical.

About Professor peller ;

He was born in 1941 at Iseyin, Oyo State and he was named Moshood Folorunsho Abiola. He would later pick on the stage name of ‘Professor Peller’, an appellation that has stuck to him like a second skin. 

HIS MAGICAL PERFORMANCES AND EXPLOITS

When Professor Peller was alive, he was the most brilliant magician in all of Africa. I am not too sure if the record has been broken. Even in death, Peller remains the greatest of all. He performed not only before princes but also held kings spellbound with his magic. Here is how Femi Oyebode, a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Birmingham described Peller and one of his shows in 1972 at the George V Stadium in Lagos (that is the old name of the Onikan Stadium):

My last ever visit to the stadium was to see Professor Peller, a magician, and said to be a member of the Magic Circle take on the last of our traditional magicians whose name now escapes me (itself a significant fact). Professor Peller was dressed in black tails, a top hat, a wand in one hand, black shoes and well-cut hair. He was a perfect picture of debonair gentleman and was assisted by an attractive young woman. He flicked his white handkerchief and a white dove flew out.

He pulled at his cuff links and flowers bloomed under his command. He was confident, majestic. He was suave and graceful. He levitated his assistant.

He cut her in two without drawing blood. He locked her in a cupboard, chained up several times over yet she disappeared! It was a master performance. The crowd clapped, hooped. We were seduced against our better judgment. Peller was a prolific magician with many shows, some of which were the Invisible General, the Escaping Box, Changing Dresses and the Zigzag. One thing with Peller’s performances is that they were executed with maximum finesse and excellence. He was thorough and professional. Perhaps, if not for death, he might have even eclipsed David Copperfield of the USA in fame. Copperfield is presently the greatest magician on earth and the first person to make one billion dollars from magic. While growing up, he was nicknamed Moshood Olori Pupa (Moshood the Red-Headed Boy).

-One of his classical performances included putting his wife in a ‘magical coffin’ and severing the same coffin into two halves with a ‘magic coffin’.

When Peller was performing, there was really no Internet as we have it today, so it was quite easy to fool people in their millions. Now, YouTube is

spoiling the show for many magicians except the most ingenious of them. Here are few more magic clips on YouTube just to let you know they do not conjure any evil spirit or demon, it is nothing but sheer trickery.  

For a man who was a showstopper at any events, it is no surprise that not a few women fell for the enchanting spell of Nigeria’s most famous magician. He was a man of many women and married many of them.

However, the best known of these ladies, with whom he performed his magic tricks is Alhaja Silifat Adeboyin Peller, The whole of Nigeria knew her as Lady Peller and she is most famous for the act in which she was ‘sliced’ into pieces by Peller and had a hard time putting her back. Now 66 years of age with her husband gone and not remarrying, she is tending to her grandchildren while reminiscing over the glittering wonders of an empire of magic that once held sway. Lady Peller was born in Kishi, Oyo State where her father was the Chief Imam and had five children for him, while also raising many other step-children.

However, unknown to many, their rosy marriage later had a deep crack to the extent that they were not staying together anymore. When Peller was killed at his Onipanu residence, he was in Lagos State for a function while Lady Peller was living at the GRA, Ikeja. Although they were not officially separated as they still saw regularly, Peller checked on her in Ikeja but met her absence. As at that time, they had already reconciled and were even planning on coming back together before Peller was prematurely silenced by the assassin’s bullets.

Peller left a message for her to check on him as he was not feeling well and was rushed to Ibadan for treatment. Lady Peller was furious as to why he was taken to Ibadan since they had family doctors at the Ajayi Memorial Hospital and the EKO Hospital in Lagos but upon getting to Ibadan, she was simply told that Peller was dead. She fainted immediately only to wake up to a bucket of water and intense fanning by family members. She said: “It was a great shock and I had never seen that kind of things. I don’t ever wish to go through that kind of thing again.” While he was alive, he also taught her some magic and ensured she got some training in Michigan, USA. Little wonder they always performed together and as far as she is concerned, her religion is not against the brand of magic she performed with her late husband because according to her, ‘it was not fetish’. She still remembers the very good old days and says she will not remarry and will still marry him over and over again, rounding off: They only want to enjoy what Professor Peller was enjoying for several years. But they can’t have it.”

Alhaja Silifat Abiola Peller, the wife of late magician, Professor Peller, has opened up on why the popular socialite was killed. While speaking in an interview with BBC News Yoruba, Mrs Peller revealed that the assassination of her husband was made possible because of the personal information he leaked to the media after a performance she had with her husband that got everyone scared She said during the performance, the late magician sliced her into two on stage but found it difficult to restore her back to normal.

“On that unforgettable day, Professor Peller performed at the National Theatre. He sliced Lady Peller into two but found it difficult to restore her back to normal,” she said.

“He did his best to the point of sweating which was noticed by the spectators. The show ended at that point.

“Thanks to God, Lady Peller later came back to life. But people were yet to know until the following day. “While Professor Peller was performing (the following day), the spectators were not all that interested. All they wanted to see was Lady Peller.

“As soon as they saw me, they were excited to the point that some of them called it a day, saying my appearance was entertaining enough.”

Silifat said presidents and prominent people used to come to the shows which they performed across the world.

On how she heard of her husband’s death, she said she was in Lagos when she got the information.

“It was an unfortunate day which I can’t really explain. Some said I fainted and later got revive after water was poured on me,” she said.

On how her husband died, Silifat said “He was observing the Sujud prayer when he died.”

She continued, “The media knows how to ask questions that can make one say things he ought not to say.

“Professor Peller was asked by the media to reveal the particular time he could be found without his powers.

“He told them that he could only be found without his powers when he’s observing the Islamic prayers “That’s what Professor Peller said that led to his fall.”

Silifat said the assassins who killed the magician ensured they carried out the act at the time he was observing prayers.

Credit: Nairaland