Many charlatans have made scamming people a lucrative business in Nigeria. Over the years, some native doctors have established an industry that thrives on the gullibility of many youths. They claim to have supernatural powers that can fortify criminals against bullets and arrests.
This partly explains the rise in all forms of criminality in Nigeria. In December 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics released its 2024 Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey. In the report, the NBS noted that over 2.2 million kidnap incidents occurred in Nigeria between May 2023 and April 2024.
Nigerians paid approximately N2.2 trillion to kidnappers as ransom within the same period. The NBS said some 4,142,174 households experienced home robbery incidents within the period.
Money-making rituals are also a big problem. It is called ‘Oke Ite’ (great pot) in the South-East. The belief is that with ‘Oke Ite’, there is unlimited access to wealth. This is acute foolishness.
Elsewhere, especially in the South-West, it is called Yahoo Plus. On the instruction of these fake native doctors, some of the scammers kill people, including their close relatives, to advance their illegal cause.
Last year, the Kogi State Police Command arrested four young men for killing Damilola Olowoyo, 17, a 100-level undergraduate at the Federal University, Lokoja. Her assailants allegedly drugged and lured her to a bush and killed her for ritual purposes.
In 2023, a 20-year-old man called Ridwan allegedly killed his father for rituals in Oshoku village, Ijebu North LGA, Ogun State.
Between January 2021 and January 2022, the West African Network for Peace Building (an NGO), estimated that 185 ritual-related deaths occurred in Nigeria.
The problem revolves around some influential politicians who crave power. They flock to shrines to acquire power and win elections. Some were dragged there by their godfathers to swear an oath of allegiance.
There is every need to address this perfidy in society. The Anambra State Government has shown a good example. In January, it enacted the Anambra Homeland Security Law 2025.
Under the law, native doctors are mandated to register with the state government. Those who claim to have supernatural powers must prove it or be ready to be prosecuted and possibly imprisoned for six years on conviction with an option of a fine of N20m or both.
Last February, officers of the state security outfit, Agunechemba, arrested some self-styled native doctors who claimed to possess extraordinary powers. They included Chidozie Nwangwu, popularly called Akwa Okuko Tiwara Aki (hen’s egg that breaks the palm kernel), and Ekene Igboekweze, known as Eke Hit. The state government sealed Igboekweze’s shrine at Umuofor village, Okija, in Ihiala LGA.
In 2004, the police in Anambra had similarly invaded the dreaded Okija Shrine and arrested over 40 native doctors, keepers, and attendants. They discovered over 70 corpses and skulls in the shrine.
In the past few years, the Imo State Police Command said it arrested and arraigned over 10 native doctors linked to kidnapping, ritual killings, armed robbery, and sundry crimes. Recently, it warned unlicensed native doctors to leave the state or risk being arrested and prosecuted.
Other state governments should adopt this, ensuring that corruption at the highest level is punished. This will partly show the youths that crime does not pay and that whoever gets involved will pay.
If there is no crime industry, most of the native doctors will not thrive. The youths should understand that only legitimate business, not voodoo brings wealth.
Governments should expand the economy and create opportunities for these youths to do legitimate business. As of the first quarter of 2024, youth unemployment in Nigeria was 8.4 per cent. This is alarming. It should be addressed.
