Living beside a beautiful lake may sound like a dream, but for one Ugandan village, the water became the stuff of nightmares.

For years, residents of Luganga, a village near Lake Victoria, lived in fear of a massive Nile crocodile so deadly that locals gave him a name known around the world: Osama.

The giant predator, reportedly 16 feet long and around 75 years old, was blamed for killing and eating as many as 80 people, leaving villagers terrified to collect water, go fishing, or even step too close to the lake’s edge.

Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest lake and the second-largest freshwater lake in the world. But in Luganga, its beauty was overshadowed by the horror lurking just beneath the surface.

Between 1991 and 2005, Osama was said to have wiped out a tenth of the village’s population during his most terrifying years. The attacks became so frequent, and so gruesome, that residents believed the crocodile was no ordinary animal.

Some called him cunning. Others called him merciless. A few reportedly believed he was something far darker.

Villagers said Osama would snatch children as they filled buckets with water along the shore. Fishermen claimed he would glide silently beneath their boats before suddenly flipping them over, sending terrified men into the water.

For those who survived, the memories were almost too horrifying to describe.

One man, Paul Kyewalyanga, lived through an attack that took the life of his brother, Peter. The two were out on a boat, with Paul paddling at the back while Peter fished from the front, when the enormous reptile suddenly burst from the lake.

“Osama just emerged from the water vertically and flopped into the boat,” Paul recalled in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald.

The force of the attack caused the back of the boat to sink beneath the water. Within seconds, the crocodile had clamped its jaws around Peter’s leg.

Paul screamed for help as his brother desperately clung to the side of the boat. For several horrifying minutes, Peter fought to stay alive while the crocodile tried to drag him into the lake.

“They fought for about five minutes until I heard a tearing sound,” Paul said.

Then came the words no brother could ever forget.

“Peter shouted, ‘He’s broken my leg.’ Then he let go and was dragged into the lake,” Paul recalled.

Days later, villagers reportedly found Peter’s head and arm.

The story only deepened the fear that had already gripped Luganga. Families prayed at night for protection. Fishermen feared the water that fed their families. Parents worried every time their children walked near the shore.

To many locals, Osama seemed unstoppable.

That changed in 2005, when wildlife authorities and villagers launched a round-the-clock operation to finally capture the beast.

For seven days and nights, a team of about 50 local men and wildlife officials watched and waited. They eventually used a pair of cow’s lungs as bait, hoping to lure the crocodile close enough to trap him.

When Osama lunged for the bait, he bit into a snare that became tangled around his teeth.

Even then, the fight was far from over.

The massive crocodile thrashed as the men worked to secure him with ropes. It took intense effort to restrain the writhing predator and load him onto the back of a pickup truck.

For villagers who had spent years living in fear, the capture was a moment of relief. But many wanted more than removal. They wanted the crocodile killed.

Authorities refused.

“Even he has rights,” officials reportedly told them. “He cannot be killed with impunity.”

Instead, Osama was transferred to Uganda Crocs, a crocodile breeding facility. There, he was reportedly used as part of a breeding program expected to produce hundreds, perhaps thousands, of giant crocodiles.

The farm housed thousands of crocodiles, some of which were raised for their hides, later used in luxury fashion items such as handbags.

Whether Osama is still alive today remains unclear. Nile crocodiles can live for decades, often between 60 and 80 years, and he was already believed to be around 75 when he was captured in 2005.

But for the people of Luganga, the memory of the monster crocodile that haunted Lake Victoria is not easily forgotten.

To outsiders, Osama may sound like a terrifying legend. To the villagers who lost loved ones, stopped sleeping peacefully, and feared the water outside their homes, he was horribly real.