Kunle Falayi
The rate of ritual murders in Nigeria in the last few years has been a source of concern but in recent times, the increasing cases of female university and polytechnic undergraduates falling victim of ritual murderers has been frightening.
Student life in public higher institutions in the country can both be brutish and challenging. But for many female undergraduates, it is a constant battle for survival in the midst of sexual harassment by lecturers.
But outside the school campuses, Saturday PUNCH found out that more female undergraduates are now being preyed upon by opportunistic kidnappers looking for candidates to be killed for rituals.
Few days ago, the headless body of a young lady was found along the Amanwaozuzu-Ogwa Road in Imo State. The victim is believed to be an undergraduate of a university in south-east Nigeria. Reports suggest that other body parts were removed from the corpse, fuelling suspicion that she might have been killed in ritualistic circumstances.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the Imo State Police Command, Mr. Andrew Enwerem, told our correspondent that he could not comment on the identity of the victim as investigation was still ongoing on the case.
“I can assure you that investigators are working to unravel the mystery behind what happened to the victim,” he said.
Three months ago, a Mass Communication undergraduate of the Cross River State University of Technology, Joy Odama, died in circumstances believed by her parents to be ritualistic, when she went to the home of an Alhaji to seek financial help with the knowledge of her mother.
In another case, a 300-Level student of the Benue State University, Grace Onaivi, went missing on December 23, 2016. Her body was later found about a week later, mutilated with some parts missing, in a manner reported to be ritualistic. Her corpse was dumped along a road in Lokoja, Kogi State.
In that same month, a 400-Level student of the Osun State University, Rofiat Damilola Adebisi, was killed in a similar manner while on her way to a religious programme. Her corpse was discovered two days later with body parts also missing. Two suspects later arrested revealed how she was kidnapped and “sold” to a herbalist for N10,000.
As abundant as cases of such ritual murders of female undergraduates of higher institutions are, there are equally many stories of narrow escape from death in the hands of ritual murderers.
For instance, in August 2016, a female undergraduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, 18-year-old Praise Adelakin went through a harrowing journey that could have led to death. While leaving Ile-Ife for Ibadan, where she is based, she was kidnapped by ritualists, who took her through the forest only to have a change of mind. She was dumped in a forest in Kwara State.
Kidnappers told me all they needed was my head
– UNILORIN undergraduate
A survivor of what could have been a ritual murder, an undergraduate of the University of Ilorin, 22-year-old Seun Bankemo, told our correspondent about how she fell victim of a gang that needed a female human head for money-making rituals.
On November 12, 2016, a Saturday, Bankemo left her school in company with a friend to attend a birthday party in Offa but on her way back, she fell into the hands of men who kidnapped her.
She told our correspondent, “The host actually told my friend and I to sleep over till the following day. She is also a student of our school but I told her I had to go back since I had to read in the night in school that day.
“Around 8.30pm, I decided to take off. My friend chose to stay behind. The vehicle I boarded from Offa broke down on the way and I had to take another one. Less than five minutes after I got into the bus, I did not know where I was anymore.”
According to Bankemo, she only regained consciousness when she found herself in a forest surrounded by three men, who told her that her life was over.
“I looked at my surrounding, I could not recognise anything. There was no building in sight. I asked them where I was, I began to beg them but they left me for about 30 minutes and said nothing to me.
“One of the men, a man with three long tribal marks on both sides of his face, later came and sat down in front of me. He told me that I should not make trouble because it would serve no purpose. Then, he said in Yoruba, ‘Your head is all we need.’ At that point, I began to weep and beg them, I lay on the ground begging them, but they just ignored me,” she said.
But after about two hours of crying herself sour during which they put her in a hut, fate smiled on Bankemo.
She explained that while in the forest, a sound of a hunter’s gun went off suddenly, startling her and her captors.
But apparently, the hunter had just shot at an animal several meters away from the camp in which she was held.
She said, “I think they must have realised that it was just someone hunting too because they went back to whatever they were doing with their backs turned to me.
“But while looking towards the direction of the hunter’s gunshot, I saw a light far off. I saw the hunter’s light in the distance and I don’t know how I summoned the courage.
“When I realised their backs were still turned, I just took off towards the light. I was praying hard as I ran off. I thought that if it was sure I was going to die, at least I would make an attempt to escape.
“I did not think about anything other than running as fast as I could towards the light. I knew they were running after me but I was too scared to look back. I just kept running. But when I knew I was getting closer to the light. I started screaming ‘E gba mi o! Egba mi o!’ (Help me! Help me!). That might have discouraged the men from pursuing me further. I ran blindly like someone who was mad. I don’t know where the energy came from.”
Bankemo’s newfound strength took her to a camp where she saw the light. But it turned out that it was farther than she thought.
By her estimation, guided by the light she saw in the distance, she must have run at least two kilometres in a forest she did not know before she got to the hut of a hunter, who took her on his motorcycle to the police that night.”
Bankemo, who explained that she had not recovered from the trauma of the incident, could not summon the courage to follow the police when they asked for her help to trace the location of the camp she fled from.
But she said her rescuer (the hunter), who seemed to be familiar with the area, took the police into the forest but could not locate the camp.
Bankemo continues to live with the memory of the day she nearly died, haunted by the faces of three men who wanted to behead her. She said she could still remember that they spoke a particular language she could not understand when conversing with one another.
Season of desperation
Security experts say the desperation leading to this sort of crime boils down to the economic hardship in the land.
They say the desperation is from both sides – the victim and the criminals.
In the absence of any data to suggest an upsurge in the number of ritual murders in the country, security expert, Mr. Richard Amuwa, explained that if more female undergraduates are being targeted by ritual murderers, it might have to do with the fact that many of them are looking for an alternative source of income but falling victim of ritual killers in the process.
On the other side, the hardship in the land is making criminally minded individuals turn to ritual murders to make money, he said.
Amuwa said, “Many female undergraduates may want to make some money as the economy bites harder and find themselves in a vulnerable position. That could be the reason more reports of such murders are coming out.
“Some ladies may want to help their parents or themselves by going after rich men. There is insecurity in the country right now.”
According to him, there is need for more in-depth security education for members of the public.
He advises that female undergraduates need to be wary of dangers lurking around.
Amuwa said, “If a man comes to pick you and take you to a place you have not been before, you should be able to tell someone where you are. But usually ladies want to keep their movement secret, which is dangerous.
“People need to be at alert all the time. When your intuition is telling you something is wrong, you need to raise the alarm and get out of the place as soon as you can. If you are the kind of person who is just out to make money, and don’t care where you go, then there is trouble.
“Apart from this, people also need to start living according to their means. Peer pressure has always been there. It all depends on how individuals manage it. The religious leaders are not helping matters too because many of them now teach prosperity, which puts pressure on people who want to make money by all means.”
Apparently, the increasing report of killings of female undergraduates has attracted the attention of the Education Rights Campaign.
Coordinator of the organisation, Mr. Taiwo Hassan, explained that the threat becomes more serious when viewed from the context of the fact that female enrolment is lower than that of males both in the tertiary and secondary education level.
He said, “Many female students already face constant threat of rape and sexual harassment. Now, it is ritual killings. This is something the government should be concerned about.
“It speaks to the desperate conditions in the society at this time. There have been many cases of kidnappings of lecturers both male and female aside from the abduction of students at the secondary school level. These are indications of how dangerous the society has become as a result of the economic crisis.
“Our challenge to the government is to ensure that the socio-economic issues generating such barbarity are quickly addressed. Unemployment alone is a reason many Nigerian youths are so desperate to go into crimes. There is need to ensure that within each tertiary institution, the security of students and staff is taken seriously.”
Hassan explained that another problem that fuels the insecurity against university students is the fact that many public higher institutions, especially the ones owned by the state governments, do not include adequate student accommodation within campuses in their masterplan.
He said the fact that many undergraduates seek accommodation in unfamiliar neighbourhoods far from their campuses sometimes exposes them to various forms of dangers.
Saturday PUNCH reached out to the spokesperson for the Nigeria Police, Jimoh Moshood, a Chief Superintendent of Police, to comment on this spate of killings but he said he was busy. Subsequent efforts to reach him failed as he did not pick calls made to his line.
Security must start with students themselves – Police
Saturday PUNCH reached out to the spokesperson for the Nigeria Police, Jimoh Moshood, a Chief Superintendent of Police, who explained that even though the force is doing everything it can to secure the entire nation, students and parents have a lot to do in this direction.
He said, “Students themselves must be careful about going to places where they may make themselves vulnerable. We are all aware that many students want to have boyfriends or ‘sugar daddies’.
“Each individual is the first policeman to him or herself. We have to be security-conscious in whatever they do. Prevention is better than cure. It is not that ritual killing has now become rampant but people should go a step-further by being very conscious.
“Parents have a serious role to play in ensuring that their loved ones are well monitored to ensure their safety in this days when we have prostitutes and armed robbers among students. In this case, it is not just about the parents. Even the community has a role to play.”
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