Nigeria at the Crossroads

tworks in Nigeria and around the world. They maintain university campuses as centres of operations, but act like real mafia clans. Membership in secret societies is prohibited by the Nigerian Constitution and hundreds of them were banned in 2004 by a law on secret cults. The three oldest were founded in the Uni- versity of Ibadan, in Oyo State, where the Yoruba ethnicity is the majority. Benin, in Edo State, is now considered the capital of cultism. Membership implies access to influence, social acceptance, power and wealth. There is an iron hierarchy typical of classic criminal organisations. The exact number of confraternities ope- rating in Nigeria is currently unknown, but some estimates put the number at several hundred. Initiation rituals are violent and members are often recruited through coercion and psychological manipulation. Women who are initiated are often victims of rape, and in other cases initiation rituals include the use of human blood. Secret cults are a serious problem in universities, but similar phenomena have appeared in big cities. Since the 1980s, street gangs of young people called area boys or agberos have been in- volved in petty crime. Today, these gangs have formed sects that operate and act much like their counterparts on college campu- ses and some are used by political leaders at election time, to fi- ght other rival groups, and to engage in criminal activities related to robbery, prostitution and kidnapping rings. 3.7.2 Ritual killings 16 Ritual killings are still a common phenomenon in Nigerian life. Ritual killers search for human parts – heads, breasts, tongues and sexual organs – requested by witchdoctors, juju priests, traditional healers and occultists who use them for their sacri- fices or to prepare supposedly magical potions. Ritual sacrifice was practised in primitive religious communities in Nigeria long

before the arrival of Christianity in Africa. In traditional African practices, a human being was considered the most acceptable offering to the gods or deities. Human rituals serve to protect and strengthen the people. Superstition is still a widespread pheno- menon in Nigeria, where many believe that amulets and charms can protect them against misfortune such as accidents, illness and death. Furthermore, some believe that ritual sacrifices and magical concoctions prepared with strange ingredients can bring mo- ney, fame and power. For the so-called money rituals, parts of the human body are often used, which are believed to be more powerful. Ritual killing has taken on a new dimension and thou- sands of men and women, of all ages, have been killed and their body parts cut off for money sacrifices. The number of people murdered, and dismembered bodies found in Nigerian cities has been deeply shocking in recent years. There is no official record on the occurrence of money ritual related killings in Nige- ria, however, there are regular media reports of these incidents across the country. Media coverage of some cases involving in- dividuals caught and arrested for the possession of human body parts revealed that, in several cases, perpetrators were family members, friends, neighbours, co-workers and religious leaders of the victims. Reports blame Nigerian society’s emphasis on material prospe- rity and wealth for the pressure felt, especially by young people, to earn money, with many turning to voodoo and other black magic rituals to achieve this. Social networks, including Nige- rian cinema – Nollywood –, seem to have fostered superstition among young people with little education and lack of resources. Religious sects that promote the so-called “prosperity gospel” are also accused because they do not teach the values of hones- ty, diligence and hard work, but rather that miracles provide an easy path to material goods at any price. The states where most cases were reported are Niger Delta, Oyo, Ogun, and Lagos.

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