An Epidemic of Ritual Killings

The scene was almost like that from a horror movie. The stench of humans in various stages of decay hung heavy in the air as skulls and skeletons of dead victims and other body parts adorned the abandoned buildings and environs in what is now described glibly as "forest of horrors."

There were also the living dead, the abused and deprived, but still managing to hang on to life. In many of the rooms were found abundant evidence of rape and torture. There were chains, charms, and a slab where the victims were cut into parts after being murdered. And indeed, there was graphic evidence that the victims were seized from the streets or homes as many personal effects like travelling bags, foot-wears, clothes, drivers' licence, wallets and passport photographs litter the damp and grim environment.

The recent discovery of a kidnappers' den at Soka in Ibadan has again brought into sharp focus the bizarre practice of killing for rituals in our country. Titi Adeyemi, 45, one of the victims fortunate enough to have walked out of the death chamber with her sanity intact, said she was kidnapped by the daring criminals in front of her compound in Oke Bola, Ibadan, about two months ago. "Before I could protest, I was put in a bus and driven away. I still don't know how we reached the bush," she said. Another victim, a petty trader in local medicine, said she was abducted while resting somewhere also in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. The extent of the deeply worrying criminality in Ibadan and environs was highlighted by the many people who besieged the state hospital where some of those rescued are being treated. Some reportedly went there with pictures of their loved ones who have been missing for months, others for years. And in two separate incidents just last week, a den where pregnant women are lured with their children for ritual purposes and another where innocent people are killed with their parts dismembered were uncovered by men of the Ogun State Police Command. But the pertinent questions remain: what must be the motivation for this callous and heinous crime? Why would some people deliberately stalk and kidnap fellow human beings and subject them to a slow and brutal death?

The answer is not far to seek: it is in the growing group of desperadoes murdering innocent people, particularly women, children and sometimes the physically challenged, for money-making rituals. And they are all over the country. Indeed, cases of ritual murders are rampant in many cosmopolitan cities like Lagos, Ibadan, Benin City, Onitsha, and Kano. By most accounts, such crimes perhaps largely account for the large number of missing people in the country today and it is about time the authorities found a solution to the menace. Ritual killing is becoming an epidemic of sort in our country, yet the crime is confounding because the underlying belief lacks common sense. It is difficult to prove that these sacrifices, done at the instruction of some crafty traditional medicine practitioners and witch doctors, can actually catapult people from penury into "instant wealth" as those who engage in these bestial acts are made to believe. At least, for now, there is no single person that can be named to have become rich because of human sacrifices, except the characters in some Nollywood movies. But that is the superstition driving the orgy of violence to get people killed for their body parts. What is, however, evident from the Soka discovery is that the crime thrives partly because of failure of security and partly because of lack of any sense of vigilance on the part of the community. It is difficult to believe that the Soka axis of evil had been in existence for more than a decade. And like the Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has promised, there is urgent need to look closely at Soka to unearth the full extent of the horror and even more, if any preventive lesson can be learned. It is time we put an end to these barbaric killings in our country.