Nigerian cosplayer says she was called “devil worshipper” after wearing anime costume with horns

• Nigerian cosplayer Lazeelolita started making her own costumes because anime outfits were difficult to find in Lagos.

• She revealed that some people misunderstood her cosplay and once called her a “devil worshipper” for dressing as Yamato from One Piece.

• Through cosplay, she learned skills like sewing, makeup, wig-making, carpentry and prop design.

• She now hopes to use her costume-making skills in Nigeria’s film and music video industries.

For many anime lovers in Nigeria, finding the perfect costume for a favourite character is not always easy. Sometimes, it means ordering from abroad, spending a lot on shipping, or doing what Nigerian creatives do best, improvising.

For Nigerian cosplayer and anime content creator Lazeelolita, that struggle pushed her into creating her own costumes and eventually building a career around cosplay.

Lazeelolita, who is also a mobile gamer, said her love for cosplay started when she was six years old, at a time when anime was not widely accepted in Nigeria.

“Anime was like something to be ashamed of because people like to throw,” she said.

According to her, one of the biggest challenges was finding costumes for characters she loved.

“There weren't any stores that you could just walk into and say, oh, I want to buy a Batman costume, a Wonder Woman costume. So I had to improvise and that's how I started making cosplay costumes.”

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Over the years, what started as a childhood interest became a creative journey that helped her develop different skills, from fashion and beauty to building props.

“Thanks to cosplay, I learned how to make hair, makeup, carpentry work, sew clothes,” she explained.

But while cosplay has helped her express herself creatively, Lazeelolita said it has also exposed her to criticism from people who do not understand the culture.

She recalled an experience where someone accused her of being involved in devil worship because of one of her costumes.

“Someone called me devil worshipper because I did Yamato cosplay for One Piece and Yamato had horns,” she said.

She added that some people would see her content online and immediately make assumptions.

“Someone will just come across your content and see you with a horn and this person is 666. She's into devil worshipping. You're a child of Satan or something like that.”

Cosplay, which involves dressing up and recreating the appearance of fictional characters from anime, comics, movies and games, has grown into a global creative community. In Africa, young creators are increasingly using cosplay to build online communities, create content and develop businesses around costume design.

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For Lazeelolita, cosplay has become more than dressing up as fictional characters. She is now exploring technology to create more advanced costumes.

“I’m exploring mechatronics because I want to start making complicated costumes that start moving up and down or at a particular pace or method,” she said.

She hopes to eventually apply her costume and prop-making skills beyond cosplay.

“What I’m looking at is applying all of this costume prop making into the film industry or into the music video industry,” she added.

As anime continues to gain more popularity among young Nigerians, creators like Lazeelolita are showing that what some people dismiss as just dressing up can become a serious creative skill, business opportunity and career path.