Ritual killings surge in Nigeria as economic woes deepen

The group of arrested individuals includes a variety of figures, among them a traditional priestess, a local community leader, a traditional priest, several Islamic clerics, and multiple healers.

Ademola Akinlosotu, a 33-year-old man identified as the leader of the criminal group, initially confessed to excavating corpses from cemeteries and selling their parts to ritualists. However, under pressure, he revealed that he began killing people and selling their body parts based on customers' requests. He admitted to only removing the victims' heads, hands, and hearts because these parts were most in demand. The head of a freshly killed victim was sold for roughly £23, and a heart for about £38.

"I decided to start killing people because customers were asking for fresh, not dried, body parts," explained Akinlosotu during his interrogation. He added that he always consulted an oracle before murdering to ascertain whether it would be successful or lead to complications.

During the interrogation, Akinlosotu testified that one day, he received an order from the traditional leader of Badagry, a town situated by the sea at the border with Benin, to kill his son, who was causing him issues. But on the day he was meant to commit the murder, a friend he had met online visited him, so… he killed him too.

Benjamin Hundeyin, the police spokesperson for Lagos State, informed the press that the police could trace the gang thanks to reports from concerned residents of Lagos State. This is not the only success of the Nigerian police in tackling traditional, blood-soaked beliefs this year. At the start of February, in a neighbouring state, a man who lured and killed at least seven women through a dating app and sold parts of their bodies to clients for traditional rituals was arrested.

It has been observed that the number of ritual murders in Nigeria increases when the nation faces economic hardships, leading people to turn to ancient cults in hope of finding stability and wealth. A significant surge in such killings was noted in Nigeria back in 2016. Following the dismantlement of the Badoo Boys gang, which terrorized Lagos State by crushing the skulls of their victims, burning them, and then selling, at least one suspect confessed that among the clients were politicians who paid hundreds of pounds for a handkerchief drenched in the blood of a murdered individual, believing such an item would aid them in winning elections.

A report by the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta revealed that in this one region alone, at least 150 women and girls were killed for ritual purposes from January 2018 to December 2021. And in January 2022, for similar reasons, 10 girls in the city of Ogoja in Cross River State at the border with Cameroon were killed.