A recent incident involving an 18-year-old man who has been arrested by the police in Edo State for allegedly killing his mother and slept with the corps for money ritual purposes has again brought to the front burner the increasing cases of ritual killings in recent times and the need to address the immediate and remote causes of the scourge.
Recall that in March 2014, a horrible ritual forest was discovered in Soka, Ibadan, Oyo state, where human body parts, including skulls and skeletons dotted the whole forest. In a similar manner, another forest was also discovered around the same period in Ogun State where an underground cell suspected to be a ritualists’ den was uncovered at Iyana Egbado village in Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state. Similar discoveries have been made in different parts of the country in recent years. In fact, every now and then, in the last few years, the media has been awash with stories of people either being arrested with human parts for ritual purposes, or of missing persons.
Not too long ago, deadly and notorious cult group, known as Badoo, responsible for a lot of killings for ritual, held swear at the Ikorodu area of Lagos State until the police was able to dislodge and degrade the group.
Nevertheless, the recent case of the 18-year-man is certainly an indication that the menace is on the increase. The development has instigated a growing fear and insecurity in the country. In fact, the problem has become a threat to national security and must be treated as such.
For sure, the rising scourge of ritual killing in Nigeria is not a phenomenon in a vacuum. In fact, there are several reasons why the problem of ritual killing has persisted. In the first place, greed and poverty are one of the fundamental causes. It is sad that some Nigerians are never satisfied with wealth. As such, they have unyielding desire to be extremely rich. This is a driving force that leads to ritual killing. Again, desperation for quick riches is also a motivating factor in such inordinate act. More so, the high level of unemployment is also a factor. In a situation where about 70% of the Nigerian youths are unemployed, there is every tendency for them to get so desperate that they begin to consider illicit and irrational ways of succeeding including money rituals. Unemployment, not only increases the rate of ritual killings, it is also a recipe for other crimes including armed robbery, thuggery, fraud and so on.
Moreover, cultism is also a factor that has contributed immensely to the moral decadence in Nigeria. It is disheartening that cultism is now widespread not just in institutions of higher learning but also out there in the society. These cult groups go to the extent of killing innocent people and sacrificing them for wealth, power and sometime protection from death.
Furthermore, superstitious beliefs and Religion have also been seen to have encouraged ritual killings. In some cultures, when traditional rulers or high ranking titled men die, they are buried along with so many heads or life virgins. Some people also believe that their enemies are always at work working tirelessly to see them crumble, so they make charms with human parts in order to drive away the unseen enemies. In fact, a lot of people in Nigeria can never be separated from superstition and that is why up till now ritual killing is still on the increase.
It has therefore become extremely imperative for the upsurge of ritual killings, or any other form of killing in Nigeria, to be nipped in the bud. To do this requires a joint effort by government, law enforcement and the general public. While not discountenancing the efforts of law enforcements in the insidious crime of ritual killing, considering that some culprits had been arrested in some instances, it is important that the law enforcement agencies up their game especially in the area of intelligence gathering and collaboration. We believe that timely arrest and prosecution of arrested suspects would help to deter anybody contemplating to perpetrate such heinous crime. The public must also be sensitised on how to avoid falling prey to suspected ritual killers.
Furthermore, part of the reasons why the incidences of ritual killing is on the increase is due to the continuous erosion of value system in Nigeria. Therefore, there has to be an aggressive enlightenment and reorientation campaign to restore the dissipating value system. The public should be enlightened and encouraged to jettison some primordial harmful traditional religious practices. Therefore, religious organisations, and schools must be involved in this regard. This can be enhanced by parents raising their children properly and being role models for them to emulate.
Beyond these, it is absolutely important that government provides the requisite leadership that would foster a regime of job creation and economic prosperity for all.
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