From the south to the west, and from the east to the north, being prosperous, secure, and protected among the majority requires the sacrifice of human and animal blood. Those who think this feel that human blood is more effective than animal blood in the majority of circumstances. This has been a major factor in the rise in the number of people killed for rituals throughout the continent over the years.

Suffice to note that, according to various sources, ritual killings are common in Nigeria, Uganda, Swaziland, Liberia, Tanzania, Namibia and Zimbabwe. However, the focus of this piece is not to x-ray the killings in all the countries. Our analyst’s attention was on Nigeria, which recently had exponential growth in the killings. Since 1999, the ritual killings have been on the increase in many states, especially in Lagos, Ogun, Kaduna, Abia, Kwara, Abuja, Rivers and Kogi states.

When looking at the different types of persons who participate in the horrible deed, our analyst observes that the ‘value chain of ritual killings’ is complicated. According to accounts in the media, the majority of those who benefit from ritual killings are not those who hunted and harvested human parts. They enlist the help of vulnerable children, youths, and adults by promising them large sums of money, usually in the thousands or millions of Naira.

Several contacts with people also suggest that the Herbalists, Alfas, and Wolis [Pastors] sometimes force the main beneficiaries to be the ones hunting and harvesting the required parts. As previously stated, the victims of the killings have primarily been the poor, persons with mental problems, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Women and children are frequently targeted.

The Failed Systems

In one of our past assessments, our analyst looked at how to make two systems function for every Nigerian, where he emphasized the importance of long-term social and judicial systems after uncovering various flaws. He has also concluded that weaknesses in these systems are supporting the killings in all dimensions, based on the rise in ritual killings across the country and the results of various evaluations of difficulties and needs in the family, religious, and media systems.

Every day, the quality of parenting deteriorates. Parents and guardians are no longer keeping a close eye on their children. The pressures of materialism have continued to weaken many parents’ and guardians’ responsibilities. Some parents and guardians aid and abet bad behavior. Parents and guardians, particularly female ones, are the recruiters of Herbalists, Alfas, and Wolis for their children, according to our analyst’s experience. Religious principles are not being instilled in the minds of many children, teens, and adults, despite the proliferation of churches and mosques in every nook and cranny of the country. Rather than focusing on defending principles and accepted norms, the media is chasing immorality and praising the wealthy by playing up framing and publicizing financial disparities in ways that make many people vulnerable to unlawful activity.

Over the years, the Criminal and Penal Codes in the country have not been used judiciously for curbing the scourge. The Criminal Code (1990), which is expected to be usable in the southern part of the country, says a person who commits a murder will be sentenced to death (Nigeria 1990, Sec. 319(1)). Similarly, subjecting a person to a “trial by ordeal” that results in death is also punishable by the death sentence (ibid., Sec. 208). A person found in possession of a human head or skull within six months of its removal from a body or skeleton can be sentenced to five years in prison (ibid., Sec. 329A (1)).

Strategic Options

Since Nigeria does not have a comprehensive and synchronised crime database, concerned stakeholders need to leverage big data that are being churning out from the news media coverage of the killings across the country. Profiling of perpetrators through news stories is highly imperative. In addition to this, public searches on Google search engine and others could be harvested and used to determine locations where ritual killings are likely to occur. For instance, Between 2017 and 2021, a substantial number of Nigerian internet users were interested in ritual money in order to learn more about what Herbalists and Alfas may do to get rich fast. According to our findings, a 1% interest in ritual money converted into 89.9% and 89.4% interest in Herbalists and Alfas, respectively. It was over 46% for Woli [Christian Clergy].

Our findings show that the more people were interested in Wolis, the more they were interested in Herbalists. On the other side, the more interested they were in herbalists, the more interested they were in Alfas. These findings suggest that Herbalists, Alfas, and Wolis were thought to play a role in succeeded ritual killings during the period. Insights such as these could be used by the stakeholders for developing and executing various intervention programmes, especially for behavioural and beliefs change among the perpetrators and their enablers or supporters. Our analyst’s proposition is that to curb the increase in ritual killings, the government should thoroughly explore the digital and data-driven intelligence-gathering approaches.