Osama, the 5-meter crocodile who terrorized a city: he ate 80 people and believed himself immortal

A monstrous crocodile of 5 meters which would have “eaten” up to 80 people – even children – for years terrorized a remote village in Uganda, where locals claimed he was “immortal”.

Known as “Osama”, the 75-year-old beast has been accused of a series of brutal disappearances and murders over the course of 14 years in the small town of Luganga.

Named after the terrorist behind the 9/11 attack, the reptile’s reign of terror occurred from 1991 to 2005, when it wiped out 10% of the village’s population.

The crocodile is said to have emerged from Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake, where overturned fishing rafts to catch people, especially children. The disappearances led the villagers to convince themselves that the creature was “Immortal” or even “Satan himself”.

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A man who witnessed and survived an attack from the dreaded reptile spoke of the crocodile’s killer instinct, which he said, killed his brother.

In statements to Sydney Morning HeraldPaul Kyewalyanga claimed he was rowing in the back of his boat while his brother Peter was fishing from the front when Osama jumped up and grabbed him. He remembers: “Osama just got out of the water vertically and jumped into the boat. The stern of the boat he was sitting on was submerged. “

Terrified, the fisherman said he asked for help, but the crocodile grabbed Peter’s leg with its giant jaws and started pulling him, trying to put it in the water.

“Peter was hanging onto the side screaming. They struggled for about five minutes until I heard a tearing noise. Peter shouted, “He broke my leg,” then pulled away and was dragged into the lake. A few days later we find his head and his arm», He counted.

Villagers became more frightened and some felt compelled to pray in the middle of the night for protection from the deadly predator, reports suggest.

The mortal reign did not end until the monster crocodile was captured in 2005: After a surveillance that lasted seven days and seven nights, the group of 50 local men and wildlife officials lured the beast into a trap using a pair of cow lungs as bait.

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Osama reportedly jumped to grab the lungs, inadvertently bitten into a trap that snaked around his teeth. The beast was held up with ropes and they loaded it into the back of a pickup truck.

Those eager to kill the beast were told it was not allowed. “Even he has rights. He cannot be killed with impunity ”. In its place, It was given to Ugandan owners of Crocs to use in their breeding program.

It was hoped that it could be used to create thousands of other giant crocodiles whose skins could become handbags for fashionistas overseas. Nowadays, the farm is a tourist attraction where the public can enter to watch the 5,000 crocodiles grow, ready to be slaughtered.