Escalating ritual killings in South West alarm Yoruba elders, say those involved in “ritual killings for money are not practising the authentic Yoruba tradition”
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
A group of Yoruba elders called Kaaro Oojiire ÌmÍ Oodua Foundation (KOOOF) has voiced concern over the escalation of ritual killings and body parts harvesting in the South West.
KOOOF Vice President/Diaspora Counsel Gbenga Adewusi wondered how cases of human decapitation and harvesting of bodies have become a daily occurrence.
“The recurrence of the activities of those involved in the human ritual in the Southwest is indeed a shameful episode that should no longer be ignored and or swept under the carpet by all stakeholders in Yorubaland,” Adewusi advocated in a statement.
“What makes the news alarming is the regularity of the sordid and inhuman activities, and the various types of people involved – from Muslim imams to Christian pastors, from teenagers to old and young men and women.
“If urgent actions are not taken it will ultimately affect the peace, tranquillity, progress, and development of the Southwest because no investor wants to invest in an area where citizens are regularly and gruesomely murdered to harvest their body parts.
“The current evidence gleaned from news reports indicate that the majority of those caught by the security services have been Muslim Alfas and Christian pastors. However, this simple fact is not an excuse to exonerate the Yoruba people from the menace of ritual killing because all those caught by the authorities were mostly sons and daughters of the Southwest soil.”
KOOOF insisted that action needs to be taken urgently to stop the scourge.
“We are all aware that there is a false narrative about ritual killing in the Southwest. The false narrative is that ritual killing is practised by the traditional Yoruba religious believers.
“This false perception is [not] supported with available evidence [and] is far separated from truth.”
“We, members of KOOOF boldly state that there is no money ritual at all. Those engaged in ritual killings for money are not practising the authentic Yoruba tradition.”
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