By Princess-Ekwi Ajide, Abuja
The House of Representatives have called on the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency, declare a national emergency on ritual killings in the country.
The House also called on National Orientation Agency, parents, heads of schools, religious leaders and the media to undertake a campaign to change the negative narrative bedeviling the society.
This was contained in a motion of urgent public importance : “Need to curb the rising trend of ritual killings in Nigeria” sponsored by the Deputy minority leader of the House, Toby Okechukwu.
Raising the motion, Hon Okechukwu noted that incidents of ritual killings have assumed an alarming rate in Nigeria in recent times.
He also noted the upsurge of reported ritual killings with increasing cases of abductions and missing persons in different parts of the country, which in most cases, the culprits also rape, maim, kill and obtain sensitive body parts of unsuspecting victims for rituals.
Citing instances, the lawmaker noted that the Red Cross Society in 2017 reported that it received 10,480 reports of missing persons in Nigeria.
According to him, on January 22, 2022, three teenage suspects and a twenty year old reportedly killed one Sofiat Kehinde and had her head severed and burnt in a local pot in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Among other cases he cited are that Ogun State Police Command on Monday, February 7, 2022 reported that one of the suspects confessed that he learned the act of ritual killing from a video he watched on Facebook.
He explained that the death of Sofiat has attracted national outrage and condemnation considering the ages of her killers.
“Merchants of such wicked acts often use the social media as a ready tool to advertise their evil behaviours.
He recalled the grievous killing of Iniobong Umoren, a young woman in her 20s; who was murdered after being lured to a particular location in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State for a job interview, as widely reported in the national dailies and the gruesome killings and heinous activities of Badoo Boys in Lagos State, which was also reported in the national dailies.
Hon. Okechukwu further warned saying that “ritual killing has become a predominant theme in most home made movies which if not checked, our younger generation may begin to view it as an acceptable norm”.
He further expressed concerns on several reports where law enforcement agents arrested and paraded suspects of ritual killings with gory pictures of human skulls and dismembered bodies noting that fake clerics, imams, herbalists and native doctors are often complicit in the heinous practices.
Further concerned, he noted that although communities are getting more religious with the proliferation of churches and mosques, the ugly trend of ritual killing is on the rise as the quest for wealth at all cost pervades the society.
He expressed worries that while youths in other climes are embracing science and technology as a way of maintaining pace with the dynamic world, some of the youths seem stuck in the mistaken belief that sacrificing human blood is the surest route to wealth, safety and protection adding that such cruel and barbaric acts should no longer be promoted in the society given the demands of today’s world.
Other areas of worry by the lawmaker include the growing rate of unemployment in the country, the moral decadence in the society, a trend that has promoted the get-rich-quick syndrome among our youths.
While stating the need to be mindful of the role of the Nigerian movie industry in moulding behavioral patterns in our society vis-a-vis the mandate of the National Film and Video Censors Board as a clearing house for movies produced in the country, he said a lot needs to be done by the Police and other law enforcement agencies to checkmate this ugly trend.
