A sad news broke out a few days ago in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State. The news is about a lady, Hafsoh Lawal, a final year student of the College of Education, Ilorin, who was used for ritual by her Facebook boyfriend, who claimed to be a cleric. While the news of ritual killings isn’t new, this recent one shocked every Nigerian who isn’t blood-sucking ritualist to the marrow.
To an average Nigerian, diabolical rituals for money or the acquisition of power and prestige are not new. It is common knowledge that people who are steeped in fetishism could become stupendously rich overnight. What is not known to many is how these rituals are made and when it is justifiable to make them.
Though Abdulrahman Bello—the satanic cleric and a disgrace to his family—was only caught unfortunately (or should I say fortunately caught?), there are many so-called clerics like him who might have perpetrated even more heinous blood-demanding ritual crimes in which humans were sacrificed to appease Satan, displease God, and throw victims’ family and friend members into lasting melancholy.
Or could there be anything that can erase the thought and the grief from the minds of Hafsoh’s parents? As long as they live, the thought and the grief of losing their beloved daughter in that circumstance shall continue to reverberate. They can only be strong in faith or pretend to be strong by trying to focus on other things that could minimize the recurring image of their daughter’s dismembered body parts and thus manage the grief. May we never witness this again. This is something very difficult to bear. May the Almighty grant them the strength to bear it and compensate them for the loss.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), the Satanic cleric allegedly committed the crime with his accomplices. Now remanded, the charge sheet reads: “During the course of the investigation at the State CID, Ilorin you, Abdulrahman Bello ‘male’ indicted and confessed to have done the act with the consent and knowledge of the following persons; Ahmed Abdulwasiu, Suleiman Muhyideen, Jamiu Uthman and Abdulrahmon Jamiu all ‘male’, who were all into same occultic group and that led to their arrest.”
According to the investigation conducted at the State CID, Ilorin, it was further revealed that Abdulrahman Bello, his arrested accomplices, and others at large are a syndicate that has been killing unsuspecting citizens for ritual purposes. How do they use human parts for ritual purposes? I cannot answer this question. I am an ignorant. My ignorance of this Satanic ritual process is a deliberate ignorance. For it is easy to know it if I had wanted to know it. It has become so easy—no thanks to ICT—to learn these rituals than to learn ABC. All one needs to do is to be friends to these evil people on Facebook and follow their instructions. I mean instructions on how to transform human flesh and blood to money. If this is what our youths do and learn from the elders among us, it means we are backward people who lack the least ability to progress. We really still have a long way to go even if we attempt to move forward with this kind of orientation of acquiring material wealth.
Just two years ago, a 35-year-old suspect, Akeem (an indigene of Osun State) was arrested by detectives in Ogun State Police Command for allegedly murdering an 18-year-old student of Obafemi Awolowo University to harvest body parts for sale. He revealed that he learnt about how to use human heads from Facebook groups. Note: Facebook GROUPS. Not one group, the groups are many on Facebook.
In 2022, we read about one Soliu Majekodunmi—a teenager who slaughtered his girlfriend for ritual money. He also confessed to have learnt the ritual practice (or is it an art?) from Facebook. According to him, he typed “how to make money ritual” on Facebook and got the details. The link instructed him to behead a female and burnt the skull in a local pot. How would a burnt female skull transform to money? In their stupidity, they believed the skull would turn to money when some ingredients which cost about N2,500 are added to the burnt skull. When asked why he and his accomplices who are all teenagers needed money, he explained they needed to make money in order to ride exotic cars and live in luxury apartments. Perhaps they wanted to be like our politicians who are no doubt models for luxury lifestyle.
Just last year, we also read about a man from Enugu State—simply identified as ‘Anaegbuachara’—who confessed to killing his mother, grandmother, sister and her child by poisoning for the purpose of money ritual. The cases are too numerous to list. While society might not completely be free of ritualized criminal acts, the growing number of their incidence is alarming. All stakeholders, government, clerics, teachers, parents, and security agents, must come together to brainstorm on an implementable way out. Not a wingless way out that ends up on paper like a toothless bulldog.
There is an urgent need to sanitize our virtual space which has become a source of dehumanizing many Nigerians who end up as heartless beings. Isn’t dismembering a fellow being a crude display of heartlessness? I wanted to say parents should monitor what their children do online. But how can parents monitor an adult like a 24-year-old Hafsoh who was a final year student in higher institution? While there is little parents and guardians can do to monitor their wards’ activities online, there is a lot they can do (and should do) to teach them morals.
We should all be wary of these devilish clerics around us. It is easy to identify them when one has basic understanding of religion. I mean true religion; not religion that preaches only material prosperity as if it is a crime to be poor or as if poverty is a curse. Our ladies who are in most cases victims of lovemaking should be very careful. They should not be carried away by the handsomeness of some of these guys and their display of wealth. They should look up to having responsible, even if poor, partners.
Our teachers and clerics who should teach morals should be encouraged to be models of morality. Though some might disagree with me on this point, it is the reality. What is it? An underpaid hungry and hopeless teacher/cleric might not be able to teach morals. Teachers should be well paid. Clerics that are not teachers and not employed and not employable should always be on government watchlist. They are very dangerous people in our midst notwithstanding their innocent outlook as they garb themselves in clerical attire.
Our justice system? Hmm! If anyone asks me what happened to the previous criminal ritualists I cited above and many others, I will just heave a deep sigh and say hmm. Something is fundamentally wrong with our justice system. Criminals like these should just be eliminated the way they eliminated their victims, except when there are justifiable reasons for delay. Justice delayed is justice denied, and it gives room for claiming criminals have mental issues for committing crimes. Don’t be surprised if Abdulrahman is said to be battling with some mental disturbances.
There is a question I have not answered. When is it justifiable to use human parts for ritual purposes? It is justifiable when one has concluded that Hell is their final destination. In that case, the government should help to hasten the admission of such people into Hell before they cause more havoc on the innocent.
My final thought. Yes, many will commit these heinous crimes and go scot-free. There are many Abdulrahman Bellos who were not caught and will not be caught. If there isn’t life after death, it means there is no justice. Without that belief in life after death, the concept of justice—within this narrow worldly understanding—is meaningless. Are you an atheist who strongly believes God does not exist? Have a rethink. God exists, and with Him lies the ultimate justice.
Abdulkadir Salaudeen
salahuddeenabdulkadir@gmail.com
