Virtually every day, many police stations nationwide especially in the South West of the country are inundated with reports of missing persons.
Available records show that less than 10 percent of such persons ever returned home. A scary 90 percent of them was not found and the bodies of a negligible number that were eventually seen, dumped either on the roadsides, bush paths or inside gutters, mutilated and their vital organs removed. The only ‘offence’ of the majority of the victims of this cult of Nigerians that incline their hearts to doing evil, is that they boarded the wrong public transport especially commercial buses and taxis to their intended destinations. There are also, cases of trusted loved ones including fathers and children, who hacked one of their own to death for rituals. Perhaps the most celebrated of such cases in FESTAC area of Lagos last year, was the brutal killing of a middle-aged man by his two elder brothers who thereafter, kept his body inside a room in their apartment and were selling its parts in bits until they were arrested. Investigations by Sunday Sun revealed that the activities of these syndicates of men and women who survive by denying others the right to life, are on the increase. Until a few years ago, ritual killing was rampant mainly in Lagos, Benin, Kano, Aba and Ibadan. These days, similar horrible cases abound in most parts of the country. Why ritualists are in business Checks revealed that ritual killing cuts across both the low and the rich in the society albeit, for varying purposes. The poor that wants to get rich with effortless ease, is assured by native doctors, that he could cross over to the other side where there is less dirt and more sunshine, if he could bring listed human parts. On the other hand, the superstitious rich and affluent in the society wants to acquire more riches or political power are told that there can be no easier way than to sacrifice the lives of fellow human beings. For these two groups and their ilk, only the professional killer, who characteristically has no feeling of mercy, is the guaranteed source of the needed body parts. Dateline: 2006 Sometime in 2006, an aide of a former governor of one of the South East states quietly eased himself out his plum job because he reported for duty early in the morning one day and met his colleagues cleaning up blood. One of them later confided in him that someone had just been sacrificed for the ‘security’ of their boss. He feigned support for the satanic act until he dumped the job. There was also the case of a baby sacrificed by the wife of a governor of one of the states grappling with Boko Haram insurgency, to secure her position. From the North, West, East and the South South of Nigeria, Sunday Sun correspondents reported that headhunters are on the prowl and an end to their mindless operations might take time to come. Ritual killing in South East for various reasons In ancient times, ritual killing was alien to Igbo land except those carried out to appease the gods. But with the passage of time and development of new habits, especially the get-rich-quick attitude and consequent obscene show of affluence, ritual murder became widespread in the South East zone of the country as checks by Sunday Sun in the five states of the zone revealed. Evil Forest in Enugu Petrus Obi in Enugu reports that an evil forest where suspected ritualists dismember their victims was discovered in Enugu State recently. Fresh and decomposing human parts were found in the forest located at Inyi, Enugu Ezike in the Igboeze North Local Government of the State. It was suspected that victims were taken to the forest and butchered by their assailants who in turn removed vital parts needed for money-spinning rituals. In an attempt to end the evil practice in the area, the people had petitioned the State government, urging it to acquire the expanse of land belonging to the village shrine, Ogene Mmili. The natives that were worried over increasing cases of missing persons in the community, demanded that those involved in the killings should be exposed and punished. Among the casualties was Miss Eucharia Abugu Eya who was abducted in the street and later found dead in the evil forest with some parts of her body missing. It was gathered that Miss Gloria Ugwueke (35), and Caroline Odo Eje, a widow with seven children were earlier victims of ritual killing in the community. However, it was the killing of Miss Edith Ijeoma Onu Ossai that sparked off protests in the community. More than 1,000 women took to the streets, demanding an end to the killings. Edith’s body had been found without her heart, kidney and private part. Reacting to the spate of ritual killings in parts of Igbo land, the traditional ruler of Enugu Urban (Ogui Nike), Igwe (Dr.) Tony Ojukwu, noted that such killings were alien to Igbo culture. He traced the ugly trend to travellers from Igbo land that visited other cultures and in the process, copied the practice of using human heads to bury important personalities. “It was in the course of travelling that our people encountered these killings and tried to import it into Igbo culture; not that our culture encourages kidnapping and killing people. It’s the people who travelled out and visited some cultures where if a prominent person died, they would keep the death secret until some heads were collected to bury the person in strange belief that it add to the deceased’s prestige. “Such cultures believe that the coffin of a great man must lie on top of some human heads. His kinsmen would travel out or move into the farms to behead people for burial of their dead. It was imported into Igbo land. “Even in this place, there were times if important persons died non-adults were kept at home; they don’t go to fetch firewood or water to avoid being beheaded. But civilization and Christianity has restructured everything.” Still in Anambra state, Dom Ekpunobi and Emma Uzor report that ritual killings seldom occur in the commercial city of Onitsha, because the area is dominated by businessmen, who believe in utilizing their time and talent to create wealth instead of engaging in diabolical means of making it in life. The fact, however, remains that those who found it difficult to remain afloat through hard work resorted to violent crimes such as armed robbery and kidnapping. Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka (Ogisi Igbo) who spoke to Sunday Sun on the implication of ritual killing, said it was an abomination for anybody to kill a fellow human being for ritual. Chief Ezeonwuka posited that whenever such happens, the land is desecrated and there must be sacrifice to appease the gods. He said that on no account should the blood of a human being be shed, pointing out that the gods decry such acts. Ebonyi: Baby snatched from mother’s breast From Ebonyi state, Goddy Osuji reports that cases of ritual murder abound in the state and that several cases were yet to be resolved by the police. One of the most agonizing was the abduction of seven under-aged children at Ishiagu community. Among them, was a nine-month old baby snatched from its mother, Mrs Alice Nkwo while she was breast-feeding the baby. The hoodlums later moved into the family’s bedroom and abducted two other children aged between two and three years. Bemoaning her losses, Mrs Nkwo said that her mind had not been at rest because she could still hear the cries of her abducted children. This and similar incidents prompted a peaceful protest by women in Ishiagu community against rampant abduction of children for rituals. Also, a 32-year-old nursing mother, Mrs. Nnenna Emmanuel watched helplessly as some hoodlums forcibly took away her two children, eight months old Chidubem Emmanuel and three-year-old Chiemelem Emmanuel on December 24, 2012. “It was on the Christmas Eve at about 4am, we were sleeping when we heard the sound of a vehicle parking in front of our house. When the car parked, I woke up and my little baby started crying. I carried him to breast feed him while we waited to know the people parking their car in front of our house at that time of the night. “Suddenly, they kicked our door open and one of them entered the house, gave me a slap and snatched my breast-feeding child from me. The other person broke into the other room where my three-year-old baby was sleeping with his grandmother and took him, and they rushed into their car and zoomed off. “We raised the alarm but before our neighbours could come, they had driven off. I noticed that they were four in number; two persons were in front while another man and a woman sat at the back off the car but because it was dark, I couldn’t see their faces. Each night I close my eyes, I hear the cries of my two little children calling me. I pray they are still alive”, the distraught mother lamented. Also, at Eketube in Enyida Development Centre, the headless body of an apprentice nurse, Miss Kelechi Nwawaka (20), was found behind the Comprehensive Secondary School in the community. She was allegedly murdered at Ndiechi Eketube in Abakaliki local government area of the state. Her head, private part and fingers were cut off apparently for ritual purpose. It was gathered that Kelechi’s journey to her brutal end started on the New Year day when one of her relations, Mrs Margaret Augustine Nweke, invited her for a dinner in her house which she honoured, and later at night, she left for her mother’s house, escorted by the son of her hostess, A search party comprising men of the Civil Defence Corps and some villagers later found the mutilated body. Imo: Victims killed, dumped in Nworie River Our correspondent, George Onyejiuwa in Owerri, reports that in Imo State, ritual killings have been relatively low compared to other neighbouring states. Improved security and clampdown on ritualists’ den in the state by the present administration may have accounted for this. Be that as it may, there were pockets of cases of missing persons, who were either found days later, with their vital organs missing or simply disappeared without trace. Recently, there were reported cases of suspected ritual killings especially in Owerri, the state capital. Among them was the discovery of the lifeless bodies of two female students of the Imo State University, with some of their organs missing. The bodies fished out from the Nworie River on old Nekede road in Owerri metropolis, were suspected to have been dumped in the river by suspected ritualists. Also, there was a reported case of the body of an unidentified young man with missing organs found floating in the Okitankwo stream in Umuchu Uratta village in Owerri North council area. Mr Ikedia Zereuwa, told Sunday Sun that he suspected that his younger brother, Iwuchukwu Zereuwa, was killed by ritualists who abducted him while on his way to their village, Umuakpu community in Ngor Okpala, from a business trip in Elele community. “My younger brother was abducted while on his way back from Elele where he had gone to transact business, but he was lucky to have survived because the Okada operator that he paid to transport him to our village that night was an agent of ritualists. So, instead of taking the major road, he took him through a track road which he told my brother was shorter. They had just moved for a short distance when three men came out from the bush and blocked their way. “It was from there that he was dragged to a small hut in the bush where there were other people. Luckily, the native doctor pointedly told those that brought him that he was not the type of person they needed and ordered them to set him free. But instead, the abductors tied him to a tree and left him there. My brother was later rescued by a man who had gone to the bush to set traps”, he stated. Abia: Baby snatched from labour room Our correspondents, Chuks Onuoha in Umuahia and Okey Sampson in Aba, Abia State report that ritual killing seemed to have become a regular occurrence in some parts of the state to the extent that many have become apprehensive when travelling in the state. Not long ago, a newly born baby was snatched from the labour room while the mother was battling for survival from post-delivery bleeding. The baby was yet to be found as at the time of this report and the suspicion is that it must have been used for ritual. Few days after the tot was snatched, the body of a woman without breasts, eyes, and other vital organs was found in a bush path. Before that incident, a young man, residing in a village in Ohuhu sliced the throat of another young man who passed a night with him in his apartment and fled the village. He was later caught in far away Port Harcourt, River State, where he’d ran to for safety. He was quoted as saying that a highly placed son of a notable personality within the community had commissioned him to kill the young man and bring some parts of his body. Two years ago, a woman that went to her farm in Ohuhu near Umuahia in the evening was killed and some of her vital organs removed by unknown persons. A community leader and one of the oldest men in Ohuhu, Chief Onukwube Anyanwu, told Sunday Sun that rituals are nothing, but sacrifices made to enhance one’s chances and opportunities. “Different types of people in the society perform rituals and sacrifices to make strong charms for protection, fame, success, riches, etc. The highest of all the charms that can be made by man are those that demand human sacrifice. They are the major causes of ritual killings. There are many people within the society who are in a hurry to attain a particular height. They are not ready to wait for God’s time and for that reason, they want to push the hand of the clock to move faster. When the native doctors or herbalists see such people, they give them very hard conditions like the provision of human parts in order to get what they want. “Human blood, whether we like it or not, is the costliest of all things mankind can possess. That is the reason many people seem to be succeeding in ritual practices. But whether they like it or not, those who embark on such things have ways of paying back sooner or later. “In Igbo land, rituals are believed to enhance the chances of those who perform it to have one gain or the other. People consult an oracle and the oracle demands that the only thing that will make them succeed is to bring specific human parts. “Time was when albinos and hunch-backs were at risk, because it was believed that the oracles demanded them to grant the desire of those who consult them”, Anyanwu said. Prior to the deployment of soldiers to Abia State in 2010 by the federal government, kidnapping was the order of the day in the state, particularly its commercial hub, Aba. Now that it appears that soldiers have put kidnappers out of ‘business’, these hoodlums have gone into another business – ritual murder. The most vulnerable are children. On June 11, 2012, two pupils of Oasis Christian Academy, Amaoji in Obingwa Local Government, Prince (6) and Kenneth (4), the only male children of Mr. Chimezie Nwaoha, a mortician with a private hospital in Aba set out for school. Ironically, the parents of the two kids who had prepared them for school before going for their various businesses thought they were at school while their teachers who did not see them in school presumed that their parents didn’t allow them come to school. Unknown to both sides, the children could not make it to their school that morning because they were abducted and killed for ritual purposes inside a palm plantation that overlooked their school. Their assailants removed their vital organs including eyes, tongues, breasts and penis before burying the boys in a shallow grave inside the bush. The police later arrested four persons in connection with the incident. Speaking with Sunday Sun, the late children’s father, Nwaoha said he was yet to understand why somebody would cut short the lives and robust future of innocent children. He said it would be difficult for the gap created by the death of his two sons because the boys were his future hope. Nwaoha advised other parents to, “look for maids to take care of your kids if you are busy all the time,” adding that if he had a maid what befell him couldn’t have happened. He appealed to the Abia state government to assist his family. As the police were still grappling with the case of the murdered schoolboys, another suspected ritual murder occurred in the city. A trailer driver, Ndubuisi (other names withheld) who hails from Amawbia, Awka in Anambra State, allegedly forced his wife, Chinyere, to drink some quantity of fuel and set her ablaze. The woman’s family alleged ritual murder. Speaking on the incidents in Igboland, a chief priest, Kanu Nwaohamuo said ritual killing was not new in that part of the country. He said it started in the early days when able-bodied men, especially slaves and at times those that have offended the land were sacrificed to appease the gods. Children were not used for that purpose and ritual killings were not for moneymaking. It was done to either appease the gods of the land or as a mark of respect for a fallen king or great man in a community and were seldom done. The chief priest regretted that these days, ritual murder of even innocent children, has become rampant in Igbo land, and mostly for moneymaking, describing the frequency of such cases as alarming. He said ritual killing is crime against humanity and urged security operatives to double their efforts in fighting the crime. The South South zone rated the lowest in ritual killings. For example, in Rivers state, Tony John and Canice Uzoukwu reported that the rampant crimes are armed robbery, kidnapping and cultism. The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Benjamin Ugwuegbulam (DSP), also told Sunday Sun said that there had not been any reported case of ritual killing in the State. Offered N1m for a virgin’s head But Judex Okoro in Calabar reports that Cross River State has witnessed about seven cases of ritual killing in the last four years. One of the cases was in Ogoja in the Northern Senatorial District of the state where late Evo Okoh (24), was gruesomely murdered on November 27, 2009, and his vital organs removed. Also, in 2010 at Ndayi village in Ugep, 23-year-old Patrick Eno Onen a.k.a. “Iwara”, a staff of the Nigerian Prisons in Calabar, allegedly snuffed life out of his eight-month-old twins by squeezing their fragile necks while asleep, for ritual. For the alleged crime he was later banished by his community for the rest of his life until he is ready to atone for abominable act by performing certain rituals. Narrating the ugly incidence, the babies’ mother, Blessing Bassey Onen said shortly after the babies were settled in bed, her husband gave her money to buy a packet of spaghetti. “I bought the spaghetti, prepared it and served my husband and while eating, he further sent me to buy sachet water; quickly, I left and that was when he executed the act without my knowledge.” In 2010, in Calabar Municipality, a young man, Udo Mbakara allegedly beheaded his two nieces and sold their heads for N1 million each. Mbakara, who admitted killing the two children, Princess and Rachel aged nine and six years respectively, told detectives that “I drugged the food and after eating it, they fell asleep and then I carried them to their inner room where I started hacking their heads off” adding that, “I was offered N1 million to bring a virgin head. I was to be paid two million naira for the two heads,” he said. Mbakara, was alleged to have been in the business of selling human heads for rituals within Calabar metropolis In October 2011, in Anantigha in Calabar South, one Effiong Edet (38), allegedly beheaded a mad woman for the funeral rites of his uncle, who was a chief. He confessed to have drugged himself to be able to carry out the act. But Edet was said to have killed the woman, “for moneymaking rituals, and not for a burial of any chief, since nobody would ordinarily send him to come to Calabar for a human head”. Last year, a widow and mother of five, Mrs. Helen Ilonge was allegedly beheaded by suspected ritual killers who also cut off some of her vital organs. The late Helen was the Primary Health Care Coordinator in Bekwara Local Government Area of the State. She was kidnapped while returning from a church programme at Assemblies of God, Abakaliki, in Ebonyi State, to her Ukpe village, along Ikom-Ogoja highway. Some of the relations of the affected persons in an interview, expressed deep fears about the way and manner the investigations were being handled by the police. Ritual killing booms in South-west Hunting of human lives for ritual purposes appears to be a booming albeit, filthy lucre in the South-west zone of the country. Investigation by Sunday Sun correspondents revealed that the headhunters are no respecters of age as both the young and the old have been victims of the human predators. Our man in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Gbenga Adesuyi, reports that a man was found dead and his scrotum removed at Gbare area of Idi-Ayunre in Oluyole Local Government Area of the State on Wednesday, February 6, 2013. It was suspected that ritual killers killed the deceased. Also, on the same day, her male friend and five other collaborators, in Oyo town, allegedly murdered a middle- aged woman. Her head was cut off for moneymaking ritual, while her other parts of the body were burnt, for fear of their secret been exposed. In Omi-Adio area of Ido Local Government council, suspected ritual killers beheaded a woman and cut her breast and other vital organs. According to Chief Isiaka Ifagbemi, a herbalist based in Olunde area of Ibadan, moneymaking rituals vary because it depends on the choice of the client. Some people, he said, have used their mothers or wives for such rituals. Types of rituals Ifagbemi listed different types of money making rituals, although he was quick to add that, “I have not done any for anyone.” There is one called Osole, another one depends on the nature of the person’s business, and pure moneymaking ritual that involves shedding of blood which is common in the society. He said that those involved in moneymaking ritual sometimes use pregnant women, albino, hunch-backs and children. He recalled the story his father once told him about a man who went for money ritual to aid his business. The ritual was made, according to him, but it did not work until after three years. “The man was told by the herbalist that some strangers would bring a business that he had no previous experience of, to him. He had warned him not to reject the business proposal. He forgot about the ritual but after three years, three strange men came to his shop and offered him a business to help them purchase vehicles. He told them he was a novice in the business and as he was seeing the strangers off, they disappeared. That was when he remembered the money ritual he had performed. Osole – A special kind of ritual According to Ifagbemi, Osole is often made inside the house where the client lives. “I remember vividly the story of a man in Agbongbon area of Ibadan who often found money inside his room. The former occupant had made money ritual inside the room but when the money was too much, he relocated to his newly constructed house. The new occupant found money regularly in the room on a particular date. The date never changed. He initially thought it was a coincidence but it came regularly until he investigated and found out that it was ritual money,” he said. A report filed in by Moshood Adebayo in Abeokuta, Ogun state, indicates that there were few cases of ritual killing in the state and the Police Command assured it would not rest on its oars until perpetrators of such acts are flushed out. However, the Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, said many cases of missing persons had been misconstrued as ritual murder. But despite this assurance, a 65-year-old herbalist, Chief Dandola Owotomo, was caught with a human tongue, an arm and a woman’s private part in Ijebu-Igbo area of the state. Owotomo, popularly called Amuludun Isese, was arrested in his residence in Oke Agbo area of Ijebu town by the policemen from Atan Division following a tip-off that he was among those behind the disappearance of a 70-year-old herbalist, Kehinde Rabiu, who was declared missing in Idode-Imomo. The police spokesman while thanking various communities in the state for their assistance, said: “I can assure you that the identity of anyone who volunteered information that will help us uncover any ritual killer or his den would be highly appreciated and shielded.’’ He disclosed that in another raid on shrines of suspected killers, items recovered from the scene included a pot that contained a human hand with the five phalanges, tongue and omi oku which in Yoruba, means fluid drained from dead bodies that littered the underground cell, and a ring. From Osogbo in Osun state, Bamigbola Gbolagunte reported that killings related to rituals are prevalent in the state. According to recent findings, the Police have handled many cases of ritual killing in the last two years in several parts of the state including Osogbo, the state capital; Ikirun in Ifelodun Local Government Area and Ipetumodu, the headquarters of Ife North Local Government Area. Records available to Sunday Sun revealed that most of the rituals in the state were for quick wealth and they were carried out by youths between the ages of 28 and 35 including students of tertiary institutions spread across the country. Recently, a middle aged man identified as Morufu Jefoe was arrested by the Osun State Police Command for allegedly exhuming the corpse of his late mother and removing her vital organs including the head and the private part. Although, the suspect pleaded mental illness, residents of the area punctured his defence. “There is no iota of truth in the claim. We have lived with Jefoe for over 10 years. He has no history of mental disability and unruly behaviour. We are sure that some people are behind him and probably they contracted him to do the job.” Also, recently, residents of Oke Ayepe area of Osogbo beat up a taxi driver because some school children alleged that he attempted to carry them to an unknown destination on the outskirts of Osogbo as against their destination. At Ipetumodu, headquarters of Ife North Local Government Area, an Okada operator was killed at the bank of the river and his vital organs removed. A traditionalist, Chief Oluwo Isegun, told our correspondent that rituals are spiritual efforts to appease the gods, but decried the use of human beings for sacrifices. He said: “It’s not a good thing to use human beings for rituals. There are so many other things that can be used for rituals that will not affect the lives of other people. For instance we use cows, goats, birds and other animals to make rituals and they are often acceptable and also produce desired results.” In Ondo state, Tunde Raheem stated that the rate of ritual killing in the state ebbed in the past four years. Investigations revealed that ritual killing is not as rampant as robbery and other violent crimes. Few cases of ritual killing were recorded by the police in some areas especially the state capital, Akure and Odigbo local government area. In September 2011, Felix Olatunji , a 26-year-old furniture apprentice in Adegbola area of Akure was declared missing after he left home to clear a farmland at Oba-Ile, a suburb. After fruitless search, Olatunji’s family consulted the oracle that “revealed” that their son had been used for money rituals. The “revelation” compelled the family to report the case to the police at A-division Police Station in Akure and the man who hired Felix to clear the farmland was arrested but later released due to inadequate evidence to nail him. Felix’s elder brother, Mr Segun Olatunji, told Sunday Sun that the family had searched hospitals, morgues, police cells and prisons but to no avail. He said their aged mother later fell ill and died after a year of his brother’s disappearance adding that after due consultations with oracles, prophets and other spiritual personalities, the family concluded that, “Felix had been killed for ritual”. Also in February last year, at Ayedun area of Akure , residents woke one morning and found the body of a lady identified as Deborah Fakeye, wrapped in a bag with two of her toes sticking out . Her vital organs and right palm had been severed from the body dumped near her mother’s residence. The State Police Command spokesman, ASP Donald Ogodo said that, “available records across all police formations in the state indicated that cases of ritual murder were low as majority of the divisional stations did not record any such case in their respective stations for some years now.” A traditionalist, Ifamoye Eniola, told Sunday Sun that killing human beings for various rituals is real and common among Africans. Ifamoye who denied any involvement in ritual killing said humans are often used for rituals for money making, promotion, trading and securing appointments. However, he berated herbalists and other traditionalists involved in ritual killings. Ifamoye attributed the alarming rate of ritual killing to the tendency of people wanting to become rich at all costs and even at the expense of their parents and other blood relations. He added: “Not only herbalists and traditionalists are involved in ritual killings as generally believed in the country. Some evil- minded marabouts and prophets especially the white garment group, use human parts as sacrifice for desperate politicians, businessmen and women and some internet fraudsters called “yahoo boys.” A report from Ekiti State by Charles Adegbite, showed that ritual killers are on the prowl in that state. A 14-year-old girl, Ranti Openiye, escaped miraculously from those who abducted her and two other teenagers for rituals, on Monday, October 10, 2011. Ranti, a student of All Souls Anglican Grammar School, Basiri in Ado Ekiti, was sent by her grandmother to buy vegetable around 4pm and on her to the market, some men who might have cast a spell on her, beckoned to her and instantly, she lost her ability to reason or resist them. She was ordered to get into a bus in which there were two other students in their school uniforms, whose faces were covered. Instantly, they covered her face with a hood and drove them to their shrine located inside a forest. She said she was tied to a tree like several other old and young victims they met in that “jungle of no mercy”. She was miraculously singled out among numerous other victims in the shrine and taken back to the spot where she was abducted, the following Thursday at about 7pm. Before freedom came her way, her head and her pubic hairs had been shaved for ritual purpose but somehow, they could not continue with the ritual. But Mrs. Bose Edijana Nnaefenwa, a mother of four children, was not that lucky. She was allegedly beheaded at Aramoko Ekiti in July 2012, while on her way to her husband’s farm. Her husband, Lucky Nnaefenwa, and three other suspects are facing prosecution for their alleged involvement in the attack. Other cases in the state include that of a six-year-old prima.
Culled from The Sun
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