EARTHWARD
HAN Essay
Turn your vision earthward –
'Tis we must lend a hand.
Samuel P. Putnam
Ritual Killing and Pseudoscience in Nigeria
by Leo Igwe, Secretary, HAN
The murder in London of a Nigerian boy - simply named Adam by the British Police - might have brought to international focus and attention one of the most dreadful and horrifying practices in Nigeria - ritual killing. In September 2001, the mutilated body of "Boy Adam" was found by the British Police floating in River Thames, near Tower Bridge in London. A top Police source suspected that the late Adam might have been a victim of a style of ritual killing practiced in west and southern Africa. And forensic examination revealed that Adam lived in South - western Nigeria. So, early this year, British detectives arrived Nigeria in search of Adam's killers. Both the former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela and Nigerian ace striker, Nwankwo Kanu, made passionate appeals for clues and information that can lead to the arrest of Adam's killers. And in July, Police arrested a 37 - year - old Nigerian, Sam Onogigovie (in Dublin) and 21 other Nigerians in Britain in connection with the murder of Adam.
Generally, ritual killing is a common practice in Nigeria. Every year, hundreds of Nigerians lose their lives to ritual murders, also known as head-hunters. These head hunters go in search of human parts - head, breast, tongue, sexual organs - at the behest of witchdoctors, juju priests and traditional medicine men who require them for some sacrifices or for the preparation of assorted magical portions. Recently, there have been several reported cases of individuals who were kidnapped, killed or had their bodies mutilated by ritualists in Nigeria.
The most notorious of them is the one associated with one Chief Vincent Duru, popularly known as Otokoto. It happened this way. In 1996, the Police in the southern Nigerian city of Owerri, arrested a man, Innocent Ekeanyanwu, with the head of a young boy, Ikechukwu Okonkwo. In the course of the investigation, the police discovered the torso of Ikechukwu (buried) in the premises of Otokoto Hotel, owned by Chief Duru, and uncovered a syndicate that specialized in ritual killing and the sale and procurement of human parts. The horrifying discoveries sparked off violent protests in the city of Owerri which led to the burning and looting of properties belonging to suspected ritualists. Otokoto and his ritualist syndicate were arrested and put on trial, and in February 2003, they were sentenced to death by hanging.
Apart from the Otokoto incident, there have been other instances of ritual murder and mutilation in other parts of the country. For instance, in Calabar, two men plucked the eyes of a young lady, Adlyne Eze for money-making ritual. And in Ifo, Ogun state, a business man inflicted the same harm on his younger sister. In Ibadan, the police in December arrested a taxi driver, Abbas, who used his 14-month old baby for rituals. Abbas killed his child in order to produce a human head, which was one of the materials listed for him by a local witchdoctor for a money-making ritual. And in another act of ritual horror in Onitsha, Anambra State, two young men - Tobechukwu Okorie and Peter Obasi - seized a boy, Monday Emenike, and cut off his sexual organ with the intention of delivering it to a man, who allegedly offered to pay a sum of 1.5 million naira (11,000 dollars) for it. In Kaduna, a man, Danladi Damina, was arrested after he exhumed the corpse of a 9 - year old boy, plucked his eyes and cut off his lips which he intended to use for charms. And just a couple of weeks ago, a woman was caught in a bush in Warri, Delta State decapitating a four-year old boy for ritual purposes. And while writing this piece, I read in The Guardian (Nigeria) a report of the murder of an 18-year old girl identified as Chioma by suspected ritualists in Mbaise, Imo state.
And now, the question is: why do Nigerians still engage in such bloody, brutal and barbaric acts and atrocities even in this 21st century? For me, there are three reasons for that. 1. Religion: Nigeria is a deeply religious society. Most Nigerians believe in the existence of supernatural beings, and that these transcendental entities can be influenced through ritual acts and sacrifices. Ritual making constitutes part of the people's traditional religious practice and observance. Nigerians engage in ritual acts to appease the gods, seek supernatural favours or to ward off misfortune. Many do so out of fear of unpleasant spiritual consequences, if they default. So at the root of ritual killing in Nigeria is religion, theism, supernaturalism and occultism. 2. Superstition:- Nigeria is a society where most beliefs are still informed by unreason, dogmas, myth making and magical thinking. In Nigeria, belief in ghost, juju, charms and witchcraft is prevalent and widespread. Nigerians believe that magical portions prepared with human heads, breasts, tongues, eyes, and sexual organs can enhance one's political and financial fortunes; that juju, charms and amulets can protect individuals against business failures, sickness and diseases, accidents and spiritual attacks. In fact, ritual-making is perceived as an act of spiritual fortification. 3. Poverty:- Most often, Nigerians engage ritual killing for money-making purposes. Among Nigerians, there is this popular belief in a special kind of ritual, performed with human blood or body parts that can bring money or wealth, even though such a belief lacks any basis in reason, science or common sense.
For example, there has never been a single proven instance of any Nigerian who became rich through a money making ritual. And still the belief in "ritual wealth" or "blood money" remain strong among the people, and features prominently in the nation's media and film industry. Most times, what we hear are stories and speculations founded on ignorance and hearsay. For instance Nigerians who enrich themselves through dubious and questionable means, like the scammers who swindle foreigners, are said to have indulged in money - making rituals using the blood or body parts of their parents, wives, children or other close relations. So driven by ignorance, poverty, desperation, gullibility and irrationalism, Nigerians murder fellow Nigerians for rituals.
But ritual killing is not a practice that obtains exclusively in Nigeria. Ritual sacrifices also occur in other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, like in Ghana, Congo (DRC), Liberia, Uganda etc. In fact in some parts of Uganda, a child is sacrificed before a major building is erected. There is therefore an urgent need for an international campaign to end this murderous practice and other horrifying traditions and superstitions in Africa. Personally, I am recommending that the United Nations' Inter-Africa Committee includes ritual killing in its programmes and campaigns, as a harmful traditional practice. Also, humanist, atheist and skeptic groups should strive to expose the ignorance, superstition and unreason that underlie the belief in and practice of ritual killing by organizing public education, awareness and enlightenment campaigns on science education, critical thinking and human rights. The case of Boy Adam underscores the need to internationally confront and combat religious obscurantism, dogmatism and occultism, in Africa and the world at large.
Finally I would like to end this way. In 2001, there were so many cases of ritual killing in the Lagos metropolis that one of the nation's major newspapers, The Punch, published a scary headline: "Ritualists Lay Siege to Lagos." Personally, I think that caption would have better read: "Pseudoscience Lays Siege to Nigeria." Because that was the case. And that is still the case.