How penchant for instant wealth fuels ritual killing in Nigeria
Story from Haruna YUSUF
Ritual killing is an act of murdering a person or an animal in order to propitiate a deity.
In Nigeria, the rate of ritual killings for the purposes of gaining wealth and power has become very alarming, hardly does one wakes up a day without hearing or reading about one or two cases of this inhuman act.
Recently, Police in Delta State arrested a 33-year-old man identified as Gabriel Volts, who allegedly beheaded his son for ritual purposes.
According to the spokesperson of the Delta State Police Command, DSP Bright Edafe, the suspect snatched his son from his wife and took him to Etinabobo bush in Edo State, where he used a hand saw to cut off the little boy’s head.
In another instance, on the 4th of February, 2022, four Nigerian men were charged with the murder of a 20-year-old woman in a suspected ritual killing case. The men, aged between 18 to 20 years, were arrested on Saturday, 29th of January for allegedly killing the lady, Sofiat Kehinde, and burning her head for money ritual purposes in the Oke Aregba area of Abeokuta, Ogun State.
According to reports, the deceased was dating one of the killers. She was lured by her boyfriend Soliu to his room where she was overpowered and killed.
Again, in the case of Jennifer Anthony, 20-year-old Moses Oko has been apprehended by the police for allegedly killing her for ritual purposes. Jennifer, who was a student of the University of Jos, was found lifeless at a hotel in Jos, along Zaria Road, on New Year’s Day. Some of her body parts were also missing. Moses was arrested in Benue State where he fled after committing the crime.
Another case is that of 32-year-old Afeez Olalere, who is a suspected internet fraudster. Afeez confessed to killing his younger brother for money ritual purposes. He was arrested during a stop and search operation along Itamaga, Ikorodu road in Lagos State by operatives of the Lagos State Police Command.
Afeez confessed during interrogation that his mother encouraged him to kill his younger brother after a herbalist she took him to told him to sacrifice one life which must be his sibling. He had planned with his mother and they poisoned his 21-year-old brother to death. They harvested the required body parts and took his remains to the mortuary.
These and many more cases are prevalent in Nigeria. Thus, Dr Ibrahim Kabiru, an Educational Psychologist, Head of Civic Education Unit Kano Resource Department, during an interview with Neptune Prime speaks on the causes of ritual killings and possible solutions.
He said, “The breakdown of moral values and agencies not taking responsibility, massive unemployment gap, poverty, and Influence of unguided social media content, these and many more factors have impacted negatively on Nigerians”.
He added that there is a need to revive the moral values at the family level and in schools. The schools should also begin to instill morals rather than concentrating on just intellectual development.
Dr Kabiru also said that there is a need for religious bodies to constantly preach about the consequences of using magical power to fulfill worldly desires.
He further said that the Judiciary also plays a very significant role in curbing crime in any society, therefore, Nigerian Judicial Institution must be seen above board so that the case of setting criminals free without serious punitive measures should be avoided so that they would serve as a deterrent to others.
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