The craze for getting stupendously rich through the senseless killing of humans for rituals has reached an alarming crescendo in Nigeria. Do we attach this to the growing economic woes in the country or is it a tradition that has refused to be corrected? 

The phenomenon has thrown families of victims into untold anguish. Meanwhile, the old image of the country as a citadel of humanitarianism, peacefulness, fraternity, cultural and moral renaissance seems blurred.

There is disorderliness and chaos everywhere. Amid the moral confusion, it is difficult for many young Nigerians to understand that work comes before wealth. The inordinate ambition to get rich quick at all costs is something to be worried about. 

Indeed, the increasing cases of abduction and killing of many innocent men, women and children is a poignant reminder that the police and the other security agencies have not sent a forceful message on what awaits the perpetrators of such a most heinous crime. The largely indifferent treatment of those caught has encouraged committing of more crimes.

Human sacrifice has been around since the beginning of history. In today Nigeria, the practice of human ritual is as common practice as it was long time ago, the only difference is that it is disguised in different forms.

How could you turn human body parts into money making machine just by mixing some portions together? For years there have been reports for missing people or bodies found with vital organs taken out. Do you still remember Clifford Orji? Clifford Orji, the man who lived in a shed in the middle of Lagos popular market, Oshodi for years, succeeded in abducting tens of women and eventually killing them.

After he was arrested in 1997, he claimed to have worked alone and served lots of high profile Nigerians who came to him requesting for specific human body parts. Nigeria Police said he was mentally unstable as if that was not obvious enough. He was taking into custody where he remained untried, undiagnosed, untreated until his death in 2012.

It was reported sometimes that Aro, the Nigerian biggest Psychiatry institution refused taking on his case as they had no resources to do so. We will never know if what he said was true or the knowledge will only belong to the people who have used him.

Some times ago in Nigeria, news have been making the rounds that internet fraudsters known as ‘Yahoo Boys’ are on the prowl for female panties to be used by ritualists. Incidents of penile evaporation became so rampant that no one could pound his chest like a gorilla while leaving home in the morning and confidently declare that he would be back armed to the bottom with his manhood. Varying methods were employed by penile thieves to fleece their unsuspecting targets of their subjacent weapons of procreation.  

Stories were told of how a mere exchange of handshakes with the organ thief could lead to an instant disappearance of the penis. A mere exchange of greetings or a response to an enquiry like “Please, what says your time?” could also cause the manhood to vanish mysteriously from the spot without any surgical excision. The phenomenon became an epidemic in the mid-90s, occurring in different parts of the country. 

While men were feeling insecure with their manhood in those days, the women felt safe with their private parts, except that they occasionally fell prey to organ-harvesting ritualists. When the news first broke about the incidents of theft of pants, what first came to my mind was why would these robbers go through the hassle of stealing undies, waylay innocent Nigerian women to fleece them of their pants or force pants up their waists?

Why can’t they toe the path of least resistance by storming the bend-down boutiques where undies of all sizes and colours are on sale and even at affordable prices? If it is all about money, which I believe it is, such used pants worn by white ladies and shipped from all over the globe would translate into US dollars, pound sterling, Euros, among others.  

Yahoo Boys are not ghosts, they live around us. We grew up with some of them. They share their scam escapades and proceeds at beer parlours, club houses and social gatherings in the midst of like-minds. They are very approachable as long as you are not a security operative and the principle of confidentiality is assured. Most of them admitted that internet fraud had taken a spiritual dimension a long time ago but the issue of panties being used at the detriment of the owner was out of place.

You can doubt for all you care, a lot of Nigerians even Christians are getting involved in black magic to enhance their endeavours, the music industry is filled with traditional worship and other related sacrifices to blow and make ends meet; most business men and women also patronize native doctors to enhance their business and sales, politicians as well use black magic to unlock political success. 

Yahoo boys are the biggest culprit as real yahoo stopped paying thirteen years ago, but the plus that started with pounding of a new born baby for charms is potent and many boys are ready to even mortgage their parents for wealth! This is so painful how we’ve lost it as a Nation, our values have been eroded by lure of wealth and the fast lane of life, our spiritual leaders are more interested in the validity of tithe, when the Nation is burning, girls younger than 16 sell their bodies to the highest bidder and are involved in all forms of drug taking! Young boys no longer learn hand work or trade as everybody wants to be rich by all means; boys of questionable characters and reputations are role models to majority of our youths. 

Where are the elders to pave the way for hard-working and integrity? Where is truth, justice and equity? Where are the big multinationals to reward excellence academics and hard-work? They rather reward mediocrity with lucrative deals. Nigeria is on the verge of disaster, but no one is seeing it! I weep for the future and youths of my nation, because the future is really bleak.  

The root causes of all that we witness these days are from our leaders. When school aged children cannot get admission into higher institutions, when graduates can no longer get jobs, when government cannot pay minimum wage to its workforce, when politicians turn electoral process to a do or die battle, when electricity can no longer meet the demands of the citizens, when businesses have crumbled, when a citizen is an alien in his country of birth, when Boko Haram have sacked and killed innocent citizens, when Fulani Herdsmen have turned all lands in the country to their private property, when lies are told by leaders to get peoples’ votes, when pensioners are dying every day because of lack of payment of their pensions and gratuities, the list is endless. 

This is an issue that the relevant authorities must deal with and very quickly. There is also an urgent need for enlightenment campaigns to put a stop to the erroneous belief that money can grow out of the body parts of murdered people. It is time we put an end to these barbaric practices. Where do we go from here except we pray to God to deliver Nigeria and Nigerians from the hands of the wicked ones!!!  

God Bless Nigeria!!!