There has been many a brave man but none like Samuel Koranteng Pipim. Back in the mid-1800s, he is known to have faced off any wild animal that killed the livestock of his village in Africa. He killed four lions and six leopards before the predators of area came to understand that coming to this village with culinary interest would cost them their lives. Samuel Laurel was revered by his own clan and was also famous in other villages far and wide for his bravery. After most regions of Africa were colonized by the British, far from his village, a man-eating lion went on killing spree.
The British were building railroads to connect various places in the vast unchartered African land The construction took a blow when the news spread of a lion stealing people away from the construction site. The lion stealthily grabbed those who went out to answer nature’s call in the late evening or night. Anyone who strayed a bit far off also did not return. At first no one could understand where people had started to disappear. Only when uneaten remains of some bodies were found, did they gradually begin to understand there was a man-eater lurking in the periphery. They learnt that it was a lion only when it gained such confidence that it started to break cover and get even closer to the shacks of the labors.
The panic-stricken workers demanded that their British owners first kill the lion but it eluded even the best of the English hunters. It just seemed to know when the trap was set and never showed up at that time. When they gave up, it appeared again. This happened so often that everyone started to believe that the lion was actually a manifestation of an evil spirit. Helpless against this mind-game, the British wanted to use anything or anyone who could get the job done and summoned for the brave Samuel Pipim, an African warrior, who was known to do so without guns. Samuel Pipim was summoned for from his village far away and many riches were showered on his family and village for his service.
Samuel was a poker faced man of six and a half feet. The sinews and bones on his dark skinned body were as pronounced as the many marks of injuries he bore in tribal fights and while hunting dangerous creatures; a reminder that some of his victims had fought back yet lost to his iron will. The British insisted that Samuel be assisted by some hunters with guns but Samuel refused. He didn’t talk much, his deep voice sounded much like a lion’s growl and from the very first time they met him, the officials were convinced that if there was anyone who could kill the man-eater, it was Samuel Pipim. He spent two days listening to the labors and got to know the details of each and every incident from the witnesses. On the third day at dusk, there was a commotion on the edge of the labor dwelling, the lion had struck again. The agitated villagers threw rocks at him in vain as he roared and chased them back. Pipim ran outside with his spear and suddenly was face-to-face with it, the lion stopped. For a brief moment, the eyes of man and beast locked, the lion growled as if with hatred and then before Pipim could react, it blitzed back to the forest
