Niger State is no exception to the general observation that ritualistic murders are being committed in each of Nigeria’s 36 states (and the Federal Capital Territory). Though I certainly have not covered all recently reported and suspected ritual murder cases in Niger state, which is located in the North central Region of Nigeria, I did report a few since the start of this site in 2018. See my postings of September 15, 2019, August 30, 2022, and February 21, 2023.
Niger State is Nigeria’s largest state covering a total area of 76,363 km2 (29,484 sq mi), approximately 9% of the total land area. The state capital is Minna, major cities include Bida, Kontagora, Suleja, and Wawa. Niger State’s total population is an estimated 7 million people and composed of numerous indigenous tribes.
The state’s population is mainly muslim, hence Niger State is one of Nigeria’s states where the Sharia law was adopted – since May 4, 2000. The state is also known as The Power State because of its economic potential and abundant natural resources including coal, crude oil, gold, iron ore, phosphate, tin, and uranium.
A Niger State High Court sentenced a convicted ritual murderer, Tunde Tayo, to death by hanging. He was convicted to have murdered for ritual purposes Abdullahi Janiya Yahaya, in Minna in 2019.
Though I strongly support the prosecution of suspected ritual murderers and the rule of law, I have my doubt about the effectiveness of the capital punishment as a deterrent. The phenomenon of ritualistic murders is too complicated to eradicate by only harsh punishments. (webmaster FVDK)
Niger Court Sentences Man To Death By Hanging for ritual murder
Published: January 11, 2024 By: Abu Nmodu – Leadership, Nigeria
A Niger State High Court has convicted and sentenced one Tunde Tayo to death by hanging for the murder of Abdullahi Janiya Yahaya in Maitumbi area of Minna. He was accused of conniving with his friend now at large to kill Yahaya for ritual purpose by cutting his head and burying his body in a shallow grave around Maitumbi area of Minna in 2019. The judge, Justice Mohammed Mohammed handed down the sentence yesterday in a judgement delivered for over two hours.
After reviewing the case and submissions of the parties involved, Justice Mohammed held that the circumstantial evidence against the accused by the prosecutor was strong, cogent and direct. The judge reviewed that the convict was arraigned on two count charges of robbery and culpable homicide under sections 298 and 221 of the penal code.
The judge, reviewed that the convict admitted in his statement to the police that he owns the uncompleted building, that the body was buried adding that, “although he denied killing the deceased, circumstantial evidence established that he was last seen with the deceased and that he committed the crime.”
The judge said, “On the charge of robbery on section 298 of penal code, you are sentenced to life imprisonment. On the second count charges of culpable homicide under section 221 of the penal code law, you, Tunde Tayo is hereby convicted and sentenced to death by hanging until you die. May Almighty God have mercy on your soul”.
Although not the main focus of this website I find it useful and necessary to draw attention to this phenomenon which is based on superstition, violates human rights and creates many innocent victims – not only elderly women and men but also children, just like ritual murders.
I wish to commend Charlotte Müller and Sertan Sanderson of DW (Deutsche Welle) – see below – for an excellent article on this topic. It’s an impressive account of what happens to people accused of witchcraft and victims sof superstition. (FVDK)
World Day Against Witch Hunts: People With Dementia Are Not Witches
Witch camps in Ghana
Published: August 4, 2023 By: The Ghana Report
August 10 has been designated World Day against Witch Hunts. The Advocacy for Alleged Witches welcomes this development and urges countries to mark this important day, and try to highlight past and contemporary sufferings and abuses of alleged witches in different parts of the globe.
Witchcraft belief is a silent killer of persons. Witchcraft accusation is a form of death sentence in many places. People suspected of witchcraft, especially women and children, are banished, persecuted, and murdered in over 40 countries across the globe. Unfortunately, this tragic incident has not been given the attention it deserves.
Considered a thing of the past in Western countries, this vicious phenomenon has been minimized. Witch persecution is not treated with urgency. It is not considered a global priority. Meanwhile, witch hunting rages across Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
The misconceptions that characterized witch hunting in early modern Europe have not disappeared. Witchcraft imaginaries and other superstitions still grip the minds of people with force and ferocity. Reinforced by traditional, Christian, Islamic, and Hindu religious dogmas, occult fears and anxieties are widespread.
Many people make sense of death, illness, and other misfortunes using the narratives of witchcraft and malevolent magic. Witch hunters operate with impunity in many countries, including nations with criminal provisions against witchcraft accusations and jungle justice.
Some of the people who are often accused and targeted as witches are elderly persons, especially those with dementia.
To help draw attention to this problem, the Advocacy for Alleged Witches has chosen to focus on dementia for this year’s World Day against Witch Hunts. People with dementia experience memory loss, poor judgment, and confusion.
Their thinking and problem-solving abilities are impaired. Unfortunately, these health issues are misunderstood and misinterpreted. Hence, some people treat those with dementia with fear, not respect. They spiritualize these health conditions, and associate them with witchcraft and demons.
There have been instances where people with dementia left their homes or care centers, and were unable to return or recall their home addresses. People claimed that they were returning from witchcraft meetings; that they crash landed on their way to their occult gatherings while flying over churches or electric poles.
Imagine that! People forge absurd and incomprehensible narratives to justify the abuse of people with dementia. Sometimes, people claim that those suffering dementia turn into cats, birds, or dogs. As a result of these misconceptions, people maltreat persons with dementia without mercy; they attack, beat, and lynch them. Family members abandon them and make them suffer painful and miserable deaths. AfAW urges the public to stop these abuses, and treat people with dementia with care and compassion.
Accusations of witchcraft typically affect the most vulnerable — such as this refugee living in the DRC Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Scoppa
Published: August 10, 2023 By: Charlotte Müller | Sertan Sanderson – DW
Witch hunts are far from being a thing of the past — even in the 21st century. In many countries, this is still a sad reality for many women today. That is why August 10 has been declared a World Day against Witch Hunts.
Akua Denteh was beaten to death in Ghana’s East Gonja District last month — after being accused of being a witch. The murder of the 90-year-old has once more highlighted the deep-seated prejudices against women accused of practicing witchcraft in Ghana, many of whom are elderly.
An arrest was made in early August, but the issue continues to draw attention after authorities were accused of dragging their heels in the case. Human rights and gender activists now demand to see change in culture in a country where supernatural beliefs play a big role.
But the case of Akua Denteh is far from an isolated instance in Ghana, or indeed the world at large. In many countries of the world, women are still accused of practicing witchcraft each year. They are persecuted and even killed in organized witch hunts — especially in Africa but also in Southeast Asia and Latin America.
Many women in Ghana are pushed to live in so-called witch camps because they are rejected by society Image: picture-alliance/Pacific Press/L. Wateridge
Witch hunts: a contemporary issue
Those accused of witchcraft have now found a perhaps unlikely charity ally in their fight for justice: the Catholic missionary society missio, which is part of the global Pontifical Mission Societies under the jurisdiction of the Pope, has declared August 10 as World Day against Witch Hunts, saying that in at least 36 nations around the world, people continue to be persecuted as witches.
While the Catholic Church encouraged witch hunts in Europe from the 15th to the 18th century, it is now trying to shed light into this dark practice. Part of this might be a sense of historical obligation — but the real driving force is the number of victims that witch hunts still cost today.
Historian Wolfgang Behringer, who works as a professor specializing in the early modern age at Saarland University, firmly believes in putting the numbers in perspective. He told DW that during these three centuries, between 50,000 and 60,000 people are assumed to have been killed for so-called crimes of witchcraft — a tally that is close to being twice the population of some major German cities at the time.
But he says that in the 20th century alone, more people accused of witchcraft were brutally murdered than during the three centuries when witch hunts were practiced in Europe: “Between 1960 and 2000, about 40,000 people alleged of practicing witchcraft were murdered in Tanzania alone. While there are no laws against witchcraft as such in Tanzanian law, village tribunals often decide that certain individuals should be killed,” Behringer told DW.
The historian insists that due to the collective decision-making behind these tribunals, such murders are far from being arbitrary and isolated cases: “I’ve therefore concluded that witch hunts are not a historic problem but a burning issue that still exists in the present.”
A picture of so-called witch doctors in Sierra Leone taken roughly around the year 1900 Image: Getty Images/Hulton Archive
A pan-African problem?
In Tanzania, the victims of these witch hunts are often people with albinism; some people believe that the body parts of these individuals can be used to extract potions against all sorts of ailments. Similar practices are known to take place in Zambia and elsewhere on the continent.
Meanwhile in Ghana, where nonagenarian Akua Denteh was bludgeoned to death last month, certain communities blamed the birth of children with disabilities on practices of witchcraft.
Screenshot – to watch the video please consult the source
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it is usually the younger generations who are associated witchcraft. So-called “children of witchcraft” are usually rejected by their families and left to fend for themselves. However, their so-called crimes often have little to do with sorcery at all:
“We have learned of numerous cases of children suffering rape and then no longer being accepted by their families. Or they are born as illegitimate children out of wedlock, and are forced to live with a parent who no longer accepts them,” says Thérèse Mema Mapenzi, who works as a mission project partner in the eastern DRC city of Bukayu.
‘Children of witchcraft’ in the DRC
Mapenzi’s facility was initially intended to be a women’s shelter to harbor women who suffered rape at the hands of the militia in the eastern parts of the country, where rape is used as a weapon of war as part of the civil conflict there. But over the years, more and more children started seeking her help after they were rejected as “children of witchcraft.”
With assistance from the Catholic missionary society missio, Mapenzi is now also supporting these underage individuals in coping with their many traumas while trying to find orphanages and schools for them.
“When these children come here, they have often been beaten to a pulp, have been branded as witches or have suffered other injuries. It is painful to just even look at them. We are always shocked to see these children devoid of any protection. How can this be?” Mapenzi wonders.
Thérèse Mema Mapenzi is trying to help women and girls accused of being “children of witchcraft” Image: missio
Seeking dialogue to end witch hunts
But there is a whole social infrastructure fueling this hatred against these young people in the DRC: Many charismatic churches blame diseases such as HIV/AIDS or female infertility on witchcraft, with illegitimate children serving as scapegoats for problems that cannot be easily solved in one of the poorest countries on earth. Other reasons cited include sudden deaths, crop failures, greed, jealousy and more.
Thérèse Mema Mapenzi says that trying to help those on the receiving end of this ire is a difficult task, especially in the absence of legal protection: “In Congolese law, witchcraft is not recognized as a violation of the law because there is no evidence you can produce. Unfortunately, the people have therefore developed their own legal practices to seek retribution and punish those whom call them witches.”
In addition to helping those escaping persecution, Mapenzi also seeks dialogue with communities to stop prejudice against those accused of witchcraft and sorcery. She wants to bring estranged families torn apart by witch hunts back together. Acting as a mediator, she talks to people, and from time to time succeeds in reuniting relatives with women and children who had been ostracized and shamed. Mapenzi says that such efforts — when they succeed — take an average of two to three years from beginning to finish.
But even with a residual risk of the victims being suspected of witchcraft again, she says her endeavors are worth the risk. She says that the fact that August 10 has been recognized as the World Day against Witch Hunts sends a signal that her work is important — and needed.
Hunting the hunters — a dangerous undertaking
For Thérèse Mema Mapenzi, the World Day against Witch Hunts marks another milestone in her uphill battle in the DRC. Jörg Nowak, spokesman for missio, agrees and hopes that there will now be growing awareness about this issue around the globe.
As part of his work, Nowak has visited several missio project partners fighting to help bring an end to witch hunts in recent years. But he wasn’t aware about the magnitude of the problem himself until 2017.
The first case he dealt with was the killing of women accused of being witches in Papua New Guinea in the 2010s — which eventually resulted in his publishing a paper on the crisis situation in the country and becoming missio’s dedicated expert on witch hunts.
But much of Nowak’s extensive research in Papua New Guinea remains largely under wraps for the time being, at least in the country itself: the evidence he accrued against some of the perpetrators there could risk the lives of missio partners working for him.
Not much has changed for centuries, apart from the localities involved when it comes to the occult belief in witchcraft, says Nowak while stressing: “There is no such thing as witchcraft. But there are accusations and stigmatization designed to demonize people; indeed designed to discredit them in order for others to gain selfish advantages.”
Maxwell Suuk and Isaac Kaledzi contributed to this article.
Screenshot – to watch the seven images please consult the source
The murder for ritual purposes of Favour Daley-Oladela in 2019 led to much unrest as well as a wave of articles on the terror of so-called ‘money rituals’ in Nigeria. For briefness sake I may refer here to my posting of January 9, 2020 ‘A selection of articles on the ritual murder of Favour Daley-Oladele, Nigeria’.
As a reminder I will recall what basically happened on the fateful day in December 2019 when the innocent university student was brutally murdered. Favour Daley-Oladele, a final year student of Lagos State University (LASU), was murdered and partly cannibalized for a ritualistic motive, a ‘money ritual’, by her boyfriend Owolabi Adeeko, aided by Philip Segun, a white garment church pastor and his mother, Mrs. Bola Adeeko.
Last month, a High Court found both men guilty of conspiracy and murder and sentenced them to death by hanging for murder (Owolabi Adeeko) and 14 years imprisonment (Philip Segun) for conspiracy. The court also found Bola, Owolabi’s mother, guilty of eating human flesh and sentenced her to two years imprisonment.
Read the full article below. Warning: the article may upset readers because of its shocking and graphic contents. (FVDK)
The long arm of justice, after three years, finally caught up with killers and eaters of Favour Daley-Oladele, a final year student of Lagos State University, brutally murdered and used for “victory soup” ritual concoction by her boyfriend, Owolabi Adeeko, and a prophet, Segun Philip.
Last month, a High Court found Owolabi and Segun guilty of conspiracy and murder and sentenced them to death by hanging for murder and 14 years imprisonment for conspiracy.
The court also found Bola, Owolabi’s mother, guilty of eating human flesh and sentenced her to two years imprisonment.
Favour, a student of Theatre Arts, was in a final semester and at home to meet her parents before Owolabi put a call to her to meet him, so they could meet his uncle at Ikoyi in Isokan local government area of Osun State.
The deceased, who had attended church service on the day, also spoke with her father who wished her success in her final examinations before setting out on the fateful trip.
Before leaving home on that day, she also informed her mother that she was going back to school but will also be seeing a friend on her way and the mother never knew that the friend would eventually use her for “victory soup” and together with his mother “eat her up for their own good”.
Days after leaving home, Favour’s parents became apprehensive having tried to reach her on phone severally and were not successful, an unusual character, hence, they reached out to her friends in school who told them she had not returned to school.
The parents had to report a missing person at a police station in Mowe, Ogun State.
Meanwhile, Owolabi and Prophet Philip had concluded plans on how to kill the missing girl and butcher her for ritual soup.
She had journeyed all the way from Mowe to Osun and, upon arrival, she was lodged in a hotel in Ikoyi but rather than allow her rest upon complaint of tiredness, the boyfriend urged her to meet his supposed uncle before she would later come back to the hotel for a complete rest.
At a church, which is secluded from the rest of the community, Favour still complained of the need to rest and her boyfriend urged her to enter into the partial wooden building to rest while he and his prophet accomplice concluded their talk before returning to the hotel.
While Owolabi and Segun chatted outside the building they took time to check on the poor lady and having been sure that she was fully asleep, Owolabi took a pestle and smashed it on her head. Thereafter, the prophet cut her opened and took the vital organs needed for the ritual soup.
Arrest
After Favour’s parents reported that she was missing at the police division in Mowe, the Divisional Police Officer assembled a team of detectives to find her.
The team, according to Ogun Police Command spokesperson, tracked her phone to her last destination, hence, the team mounted surveillance in the town and further tracked the last location of the phone to the church where the prophet was arrested.
The cleric informed the police that the deceased was brought to him by Owolabi who was still in the hotel where he lodged. They were both arrested after Christmas in 2019.
‘I lured her to Ikoyi to kill’
After his arrest, Owolabi told police detectives that he lured the victim to Osun under the pretence to meet his uncle and spend more time together.
He added that she travelled down because of the trust she had in him as the victim had not embarked on such journey before that one which eventually was her last.
His confessional statement which was tendered in court “I called Favour on December 8, 2019 to meet me at Ikoyi-Ile so that we could spend time together. She met me at an hotel in the area, but immediately she got there, she started complaining that she was tired and needed to rest.
“I told her that we needed to visit my dad’s younger brother before she would rest. It was a lie. I tricked her into going to the church of Segun. When we got to the church, again, she complained that she wanted to sleep, so, I asked her to go into the church and rest.
“When she slept off, I used a pestle to smash her in the head and she died. After we confirmed she was dead, Pastor Segun slaughtered her and removed the vital organs from her body which he used to prepare concoction for me and my mum to eat.
“Despite what we ate, things have not improved till I was arrested. My mum’s business has not improved after what we did and despite all our efforts. I think the money ritual did not work”.
He added that his mother was not aware of his evil plans and was made to believe that she was eating ritual soup prepared from goat’s organs.
Owolabi agreed to face the consequences of his actions but asserted that punishing his mother would amount to an injustice.
On his part, Segun admitted to cutting the deceased open after her boyfriend had killed her, removed her vital organs to prepare the spiritual meal for mother and son to be victorious of spiritual attacks.
His words also admitted as confession in court: “It is true I slaughtered Favour with a knife. I removed her heart, breasts, and other vital organs so we could use them for rituals. But, I was not the one that smashed her head with a pestle. Owolabi did it.
“We deceived Mrs Adeeko that the concoction was prepared with goat’s organs. She was not aware we used human parts in the concoction I gave her. I prepared the ritual for them because I was broke and I needed money. I demanded N250,000 but was paid N210, 000.
“I was called by God, but I think I have lost the call because of what I did”.
Owolabi’s mother, Bola, said she was not aware a human was killed in a bid for her to overcome her spiritual challenges.
According to her, she was made to believe the concoction she ate was prepared from goat meat.
Exhuming body
Following their arrest and confession, Owolabi and Segun told the police that the remains of Favour were buried in the church building. The entire community was thrown into frenzy when the remains were exhumed from a shallow grave close to the building.
The already decomposing body was packed in a body bag and transported to Ogun State with a view to delivering it to the family after autopsy.
Arraignment
The three suspects were first arraigned before an Osun State Magistrate Court in November 2020 after investigation by the police on two counts of conspiracy and murder.
They were later arraigned before a High Court sitting in Ikire.
The prosecution, led by Adekemi Bello, called nine witnesses during trial to establish conspiracy and murder charges against the suspects who testified for themselves.
At the end of trial, Justice Christiana Obadina found Owolabi and Segun guilty of conspiracy and murder.
She sentenced the Prophet and Owolabi to death by hanging for murder and 14 years imprisonment for conspiracy.
The trial judge also found Bola, Owolabi’s mother, guilty of eating human flesh and sentenced her to two years imprisonment.
Reaction
The Onikoyi of Ikoyi-Ile, Oba Yisau Oyetunji, said the community is peaceful and the people peace loving.
He maintained that the killer-prophet is not an indigene of the community.
The monarch stressed that churches should be properly registered with a view to identifying and preventing such horrible incident.
“From my findings, the self-acclaimed pastor is not an indigene of Ikoyi. The fellow who took the lady to the place, his mother and the victim are also not from Ikoyi”, he said.
“My plea to religious leaders and residents of Ikoyi and Osun State in general is to be vigilant. We should take up responsibility to secure our areas.
“If we see any strange faces or movements, we should try and do our findings on them. Our surveillance should not be restricted to strangers alone. We should not be silent on the issue of security. We should report to the police anyone constituting security risk”.
Meanwhile, the sentencing of the killers means a proper closure to a sad tale for Favour’s parents as justice appears to have been served.
Only very recently the murderers of Tapiwa Makore were sentenced to death, yet another ritual murder became known. We will never know how many ‘muti murders’ are committed in Zimbabwe and elsewhere.
Thomas Muzenda, a 38-years old artisinal miner from Gokwe, Zimbabwe, reportedly killed his one-year old daughter to booster his mining business. He butchered her and chopped up the body to get parts for muti purposes. He then reported her missing to cover up his crime.
Warning: the following may upset readers because of its graphic contents. (FVDK).
Man killed daughter, 1, to boost artisanal mining business: police
‘The suspect confessed to the police that he killed his daughter with a knife for ritual purposes to allegedly boost his mining activities.
Shocking murder … A one-year-old girl was killed by her father in a “sacrifice”
Published: August 5, 2023 By: ZimLife
….an artisanal miner also confessed to killing his 1-year-old daughter in Gokwe to boost his artisanal mining business….
Meanwhile (…), in another incident (…), an artisanal miner has admitted to killing his daughter who is aged 1 year, 2 months.
Said the police, “On 2 August 2023, police in Gokwe arrested an artisanal miner, Thomas Muzenda, 38, of Village 17 Mupukuta, Chireya Gokwe North, in connection with the callous murder of his daughter, Nenyasha Muzenda, 1 year 2 months, who had been reported missing.
“The suspect confessed to the police that he killed his daughter with a knife for ritual purposes to allegedly boost his mining activities after approaching a traditional healer only identified as Dhumba.
“Police have since recovered the remains of the victim from a disused well at Zenda Mining area, Gokwe North.”
Man kills daughter (1), harvests body parts for rituals
Published: August 6, 2023 By: Bulawayo 24 News
In a spine chilling ritual murder, a 38-year-old man killed his daughter (1) and chopped up the body to get parts for muti purposes.
Thomas Muzenda, an artisinal miner (umakorokoza) from Gokwe, reportedly butchered Nenyasha Muzenda with a knife, then reported her missing to cover up the grisly offence.
Muzenda was arrested on 2 August 2023.
Without giving much detail, police took to twitter and said, ‘’ On 02/08/23, Police in Gokwe arrested an artisanal miner, Thomas Muzenda (38) of Village 17 Mupukuta, Chireya Gokwe North, in connection with the callous murder of his daughter, Nenyasha Muzenda (1 year 2 months), who had been reported missing.
“The suspect confessed to the police that he killed his daughter with a knife for ritual purposes to allegedly boost his mining activities after approaching a traditional healer only identified as Dhumba. Police have since recovered the remains of the victim from a disused well at Zenda Mining area, Gokwe North,” read the tweet.
A horrifying incident has unfolded in Gokwe, Zimbabwe, as an artisanal miner, Thomas Muzenda (38), has been apprehended by the police for the brutal murder of his one-year-old daughter, Nenyasha Muzenda.
Startling details emerged when Muzenda confessed to the heinous act, revealing that he took the innocent life in a ritualistic act aimed at bolstering his mining endeavours. The sh0cking incident has sent sh0ckwaves through the community, highlighting the desperate lengths some individuals may go to in the pursuit of wealth and success.
The tragic events unfolded when Nenyasha Muzenda was reported missing, prompting a police investigation in Gokwe, a region known for its artisanal mining activities. During questioning, Thomas Muzenda sh0ckingly admitted to authorities that he had murdered his own daughter as part of a ritual intended to enhance his mining business. Allegedly, Muzenda had sought the assistance of a traditional healer named Dhumba, who advised him that such a gruesome act would bring prosperity and success to his mining activities.
Following Muzenda’s confession, the police conducted a search and ultimately discovered the remains of the young victim in a disused well located at the Zenda mining area in Gokwe North. The gruesome find further confirmed the harrowing nature of the crime and left the community in a state of sh0ck and disbelief.
Meanwhile, the police are urging anyone with information regarding the murder of Clemence Mwale (30) to come forward and assist with the investigation. Mwale was fatally attacked by unknown assailants on August 3 in Dzivaresekwa, and the authorities are seeking any leads that could shed light on the circumstances surrounding this tragic event.
The arrest of Thomas Muzenda has sent sh0ckwaves throughout Zimbabwe, prompting a broader conversation about the lengths some individuals may go to in their pursuit of success. The incident serves as a stark reminder of the importance of ethical practices and the need to safeguard vulnerable members of society. – My Zimbabwe News
The brutal death of 7-year old Tapiwa Makore not only shocked people in Zimbabwe. Also in neighbouring countries people followed Zimbabwe’s most notorious ritual murder case. After all, ‘muti murders’ are well known in Southern Africa.
The following article was written by Prof. Jairos Kangira, who writes from Namibia.
Warning: Some readers may find the following article disturbing. (FVDK).
Last month, when the Zimbabwe High Court sentenced to death the two murderers who brutally murdered seven-year old boy, Tapiwa Makore, for rituals in 2020, there was a sigh of relief in his family and among a groundswell of sympathisers in that country and internationally that had been traumatised by the horrific act of the convicts, Tapiwa Makore senior (the boy’s uncle) and Tafadzwa Shamba. Ironically, Tapiwa Makore senior killed his namesake, his brother’s son named after him.
Both the traditional media and social media were awash with stories and comments saying that the death sentence was an appropriate punishment for the two heartless men who killed Tapiwa and cut his body into parts after severing his head. That the killers cooked the boy’s head and took it to a traditional healer for muti purposes in Mozambique shows that some barbaric African beliefs in ritual killings still exist in some people’s sociocultural milieu in Zimbabwe.
The killers’ motive in kidnapping the boy and murdering him on that fateful day was to use their victim’s body parts for muti to boost a cabbage business. In normal senses, people may ask what connection there is between human body parts and cabbages which need sufficient manure, fertiliser and water, not human blood, to grow.
Senseless and irrational to think that their cabbage business could flourish by ritual killing. That the killers summoned the angels of death to play an oversight role as they butchered the innocent primary school boy for business purposes indicated the devils in them. For committing this dastardly and inhuman act, some have argued, these murderers deserved a worse punishment than the death penalty, if something like that exists. Others have argued that the two ritual killers must have their limbs cut off before they are finally hanged so that they can feel the pain before they die. This illustrates the depth of the contempt people have of these murderers.
This cold-blooded murder has led many rightful thinking people to question the sanctity and essence of human life, when a small boy can lose his life just like that to elders who should have protected him in the first place. Is life really worth living? Is life sacrosanct? Is life sacred?
These rhetorical questions come into one’s head when one hears about horrendous stories of the ritual killings of children. There are many moral verses in the Bible on what Jesus said about the care and innocence of children such as the seven-year-old Tapiwa Makore who unnecessarily had his life cut short at a tender age.
I find this verse as one of the appropriate quotes of what Jesus said about children: “If anyone causes one of these little ones – those who believe in me – to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea (Matthew 18:6). This verse pronounces a death sentence to those who do bad things to innocent children. I am not a preacher, and I am not attempting to be one here. The point I am making is that, truly speaking, the chilling murder of Tapiwa Makore is a negation of what Jesus said about treatment of children.
Instead of giving him love and kindness, the brutish elders drugged the unsuspecting boy using an illicit brew before they killed him and dismembered his lifeless body. A callous act, indeed.
When I was discussing Tapiwa Makore’s fate with my colleagues recently, we concluded that we could have faced the same fate when we were young. Each of us recounted the countless times we would be sent on errands by our parents to some remote villages on our own. We oftentimes looked after livestock in the plains and forests where we could have easily become victims of murder by unscrupulous elders from our villages or strangers.
Truly, the murder of Tapiwa Makore is like fiction. It is a story best described as hell has no fire.
Professor Jairos Kangira is a professor of English at the University of Namibia. Email address: kjairos@gmail.com
The following post refers to a complicated legal verdict. Most people may find the following text incomprehensible. Be that as it may, the reason for including it here is that – summarized – the accused have been found guilty of the crime of murder although the dead body of the victim was never found.
As I often state here, most ritual murder cases which are discovered only represent the tip of the iceberg: many ritual murders are never discovered.
The accused, Nancy Aiwuyor, and two other persons were found guilty by the Supreme Court of Nigeria of – again summarized (FVDK) – conspiracy, child stealing and murder. See the first paragraph of the article below (‘Facts’).
In the last paragraph it becomes clear that the accused stole the child – apparently a baby, see the last but one paragraph – for ritual purposes: The Supreme Court held that the prosecution (a lower court) has proved, beyond reasonable doubt, that the acts of the three accused caused the presumed death of the child they stole for ritual purposes (italics mine, FVDK).
Hence, the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of the three accused who will face the capital punishment for the crime(s) committed.
The Supreme Court’s decision does not reveal the identity of the victim, a child who has been missing for (over) seven years. The incident took place in 2009. The importance of the Supreme Court’s decision lies in the accepted legal principle that the person who was last seen in company of a missing person can be charged with murder.
Doctrine of Last Seen in a Charge of Murder
Published: January 25, 2022 By: This Day, Nigeria
In the Supreme Court of Nigeria Holden at Abuja On Friday, the 11th day of June, 2021
Before Their Lordships Amina Adamu Augie Uwani Musa Abba Aji Mohammed Lawal Garba Tijjani Abubakar Emmanuel Akomaye Agim Justices, Supreme Court
SC. 996C/2018
Between
Nancy Aiwuyor Appellant
And
The State Respondent
(Lead Judgement delivered by Honourable Mohammed Lawal Garba, JSC)
Facts
The Appellant and two other persons were charged and tried for offences bothering on conspiracy, child stealing and murder, contrary to the provisions of Sections 516, 317 and 319 (1) of the Criminal Code. Five witnesses testified for the prosecution; while the Appellant was the sole witness. The trial court convicted the Appellant and others for the offences charged, and they were sentenced to death for the offence of murder. The Appellant’s appeal to the Court of Appeal, was dismissed. The Appellant further appealed to the Supreme Court.
Issue for Determination
The Supreme Court considered the following sole issue as being central to the appeal and decided the appeal thereon:
“Whether the lower court was right, that the prosecution had proved the offences the Appellant was charged with beyond reasonable doubt by the evidence adduced before the trial court.”
Arguments
Relying on the decision of court in COP v AMUTA LPELR- 41386(SC), counsel for the Appellant submitted that in criminal trials, the burden of proof is beyond reasonable doubt, and this burden rests on the prosecution throughout trial. Counsel contended that the burden is to be discharged by credible and cogent evidence, which is sufficient to eliminate reasonable doubt that it was the accused person who committed the offence he was charged with. Counsel relied on IGBABELE v STATE (2006) 5 NWLR (Pt. 975) 100 for the three ingredients of the offence of murder which the prosecution is required to prove together or conjunctively, in order to satisfy the proof beyond reasonable doubt. It was the position of counsel that the prosecution did not, by the evidence adduced at trial, prove any of the offences against the Appellant, particularly murder, beyond reasonable doubt. He argued that the witnesses called in the case did not give evidence in that regard, and that the Court of Appeal erred in law to have affirmed the conviction of the Appellant in the absence of proof beyond reasonable doubt. Further relying on the case of ORISA v STATE (2018) 11 NWLR (Pt. 1631) 457, Counsel argued that the evidence of the Appellant was cogent, unequivocal, and remained unshaken during cross-examination, but the trial court simply disregarded it in its judgement. Counsel argued that it is the duty of the trial court to resolve any doubt in the circumstantial evidence in favour of the accused person where it is capable of two interpretations; one showing the innocence and the other, the guilt of the accused person.
In response to the submissions above, counsel argued for the Respondent that the prosecution had discharged the burden of proof of the offences the Appellant was charged with, and that the trial and lower court were right to have convicted and affirmed the conviction of the Appellant; respectively. Counsel submitted that the concurrent findings of the two courts are not only borne out of abundance of evidence, but also based on relevant principles of law in Section 135(1) of the Evidence Act. Relying on OSENI v STATE (2012) 208 LRCN 151, he posited that that proof could be in any of the following ways: confessional statement by an accused person, circumstantial evidence or evidence of eyewitness of the crime. Counsel submitted that conspiracy, which is an offence that may not always be proved by direct evidence, and is distinct from the main offence, can be inferred from the facts and circumstances of a case – IKEMSON v STATE (1989) 3 NWLR (Pt. 110) 455. Counsel contended that the evidence of the prosecution witnesses, depicted vividly how the Appellant in company of the 1st & 2nd accused persons in consensus ad idem, stole and eventually murdered the victim for ritual purposes, and that the evidence of DW1 and DW2 corroborated the prosecution evidence to prove the charge of conspiracy as required by law. For the offence of child stealing, counsel argued that citing the evidence of PW1 and statement of the Appellant, established that the Appellant actively participated in the commission of the offence and that no evidence was given in rebuttal by the Appellant. On the offence of murder, counsel relied on EDAMINE v STATE (1996) 3 NWLR (Pt. 438) 530 for the essential ingredients of the offence, and argued that the law is settled that where the victim was last seen with the accused person and has not been found after a period of more than seven years, death would be presumed by virtue of Section 164(1) of the Evidence Act. Learned counsel submitted that the evidence before the trial court, was that the victim was last seen by and with the Appellant who received her from the 2nd accused person, and the victim has not been seen or found since February 24th, 2009, thereby giving rise to the reasonable presumption of death. Counsel submitted further that concurrent findings by the two lower courts, was rooted in the evidence which sufficiently established the ingredients required to prove the offences beyond reasonable doubt against the Appellants.
Court’s Judgement and Rationale
Before deciding the sole issue, the Supreme Court pointed out that the law permits a Respondent who did not file a Cross-appeal or a Respondent’s Notice of Appeal, to formulate issues from the grounds of appeal filed by the Appellant, and in so doing, adopt a favourable slant. Such Respondent does not have to adopt the form or style of the Appellant, in the formulation of the issues for determination -ATANDA v AJAYI (1989)3 NWLR (Pt. 111) 511.
Deciding the sole issue, the Supreme Court held that it is elementary in all superior courts of record in Nigeria, that by the combined provisions of Section 131, 132, 135(1) and 139 of the Evidence Act 2011, the burden of proof in all criminal trials is on the prosecution, to prove the offences which the accused persons are alleged to have committed beyond reasonable doubt. Another settled principle of law is that, the burden of proof imposed on the prosecution in criminal trials can be effectively discharged, and the presumption of innocence in favour of an accused person completely displaced by any of the following ways: confessional statement of the accused person which satisfies the requirements of law, direct eyewitness evidence or circumstantial evidence which meets or satisfies the requirements of the law – IGBABELE v STATE (2006) 5 NWLR (Pt. 975).
The court held that for the evidence to be adduced by the prosecution in the discharge of the burden of proof in any of these ways, by law, all material ingredients or elements which constitute the offence with which he was charged before the court, must be established together or conjunctively. Where a trial court failed or omitted to adequately, properly, and fairly consider a defence disclosed in the evidence before it which is open and available to an accused person before convicting him for the offence he was charged with, an appellate court would readily consider such defences in the event of an appeal on the failure or omission by the trial court – OJO v STATE (1973) 11 SC. An appellate court lacks the judicial competence to consider, deal with, pronounce and decide any issue or point which is outside of and not related to the grounds of an appeal contained on the Notice of Appeal filed before. In this instance, however, the Appellant did not, by his Grounds of Appeal or the issues submitted to the lower court for its determination, raise the issue of omission or failure by the trial court to consider the defence raised by the Appellant during trial, in the judgement appealed against. Not being an issue submitted to it or arising from any of the grounds of appeal before it, the lower court had no obligation or duty in law, to deal with or make pronouncement on the alleged omission or failure by the trial court to consider the defence raised by the Appellant at the trial court – IYAJI v EYIGEBE (1987) 1 NWLR (Pt. 61) 523.
Further, the proof of the offence of conspiracy lies in the inferences to be drawn from subsequent illegal acts or conducts by the individual conspirators. towards meeting or achieving the common intention and purpose. From the series and sequence of the acts and conduct by the accused persons, as narrated in their respective statements, there is no reasonable doubt that they could only come from the personal knowledge and common intention of persons who had agreed to commit an illegal act for a common purpose as envisaged by the provisions of Sections 7 and 8 of the Criminal Code, in order to constitute the offence of conspiracy between them. The evidence adduced by the prosecution through PW3 – the victim’s father, established beyond reasonable doubt that the victim who was a three-year-old at the material time, was taken away from their care, possession, and protection, forcibly and with the clear intention to steal her for an illegal purpose. The evidence leaves no reasonable doubt that the offence of child stealing under Section 371 of the Criminal Code was committed, in furtherance and pursuit of the common intention by the Appellant and her co-conspirators; the first and second accused persons. Consequently, the offences of conspiracy to commit felony and child stealing have been proved by the evidence, adduced by the prosecution, beyond reasonable doubt, as required by the law and the lower court was right to have affirmed her conviction for the said offences.
On the charge of murder, the court held that the law is firmly settled, as seen in loads of judicial authorities, that for the prosecution to secure a conviction for the offence of murder, the following crucial, vital and essential elements must be proved conjunctively, beyond reasonable doubt, that the death of the human has actually and in fact, taken place or occurred, the death was caused by the acts done or attributable to the accused person charged with the offence and the acts was done by the accused person with the intention to cause the death or that at the material time he knew or had reason to know that death was the probable, and not only a likely consequence of the act- OKORO v STATE (1988) 12 SCNJ.
In this case, the child who the Appellant and other accused persons conspired with, and stole was not found up to the time her trial commenced and ended. The lower court believed and relied on the evidence that since the Appellant and the co-accused conspired and stole the missing child who had not been seen or found for a period of seven years thereafter, there was the presumption of her death, and the Appellant had the duty to explain what happened to her because they were last seen with her. As shown by the evidence, the Appellant and the 2nd accused person were the last persons seen with the victim, when she was handed over to them by the 1st accused person on the 24th February, 2009 and they took her away alive, but she had since then, not been traced, seen or heard of or about. The Appellant has the duty to give or offer an acceptable explanation on the whereabouts, the condition or situation that the baby victim has been from the time they took her away from the village until she was traced, found or heard of or about, if ever. The fact that there was no direct evidence of her death or that her dead body was not found, would not affect or detract from the statutory presumption of her death, or its proof by the cogent and compelling circumstantial evidence placed before the trial court – STATE v SUNDAY (2019) 9 NWLR (Pt. 1676) 115. The court held further that the lower court was right that the presumption provided for and envisaged in the provisions of Section 164(1) of the Evidence Act applied in the Appellant’s case such that until rebutted by the Appellant, it was safe to say that the death of the child was proved beyond reasonable doubt in the circumstances of the case.
On the element that the death of the child was attributable to or resulted from the acts of the Appellant, the court held that the prosecution has proved, beyond reasonable doubt, that the acts of the Appellant along with her co-conspirators, caused the statutorily presumed death of the child they stole for ritual purposes. Thus, the second element of the offence of murder was thereby, satisfied. On the last of the elements, their Lordships held that with the brutal removal of nine fingers and the hair of the three year old victim, no reasonable doubt exists in the Appellant’s case that she indeed intended and knew that the death of their unfortunate victim was the inevitable result or consequence of their nefarious acts. The court therefore, affirmed the conviction of the Appellant.
Appeal Dismissed.
Representation Olayiwola Afolabi for the Appellant. Paulyn O. Abhulimen for the Respondent.
Reported by Optimum Publishers Limited, Publishers of the Nigerian Monthly Law Reports (NMLR)(An affiliate of Babalakin & Co.)
Unfortunately, the below article contains a too familiar story. Attacks on persons with albinism, mutilation, murder, involvement of high-placed politicians, cover up practices. The President of the Associations of Persons with Albinism in Malawi (APAM), Ian Simbota, again turned his attention to the country’s rulers and requested the government of President Lazarus Chakwera to speed up all abduction and murder cases which targeted people with albinism (PWA) for ritualistic purposes, often involving high-profile politicians.
It is shocking to read the following article. I won’t repeat here what follows. Once more, however, I want to draw attention to these heinous crimes which threaten people with albinisme on a daily basis. Ritual murders must end. Politicians and other culprits who are involved must be apprehended, put on trial and sentenced. Simultaneously, a national awareness campaign must start, emphasizing the sanctity of life, the need to protect innocent people, the promotion of human rights notably to right to live and the right to live without fear. The government must take its responsibility and act accordingly – or resign. (webmaster FVDK).
APAM asks Tonse Alliance Govt. to speed upon ‘albino’ cases
Published: April 29, 2021 By: Nyasa Times – Tiwonge Kumwenda
Several Nigerian states (Osun, Ondo, Rivers) have enacted laws making it possible for judges to pronounce the death sentence for a specified number of crimes. Osun State is one of them. Ritualistic murders occur frequently in this southeastern state. Among the crimes mentioned in the law which carry the capital punishment when found guilty is murder committed for the purpose of a ‘money ritual’, as ritualistic murders are called in Africa’s most populated country.
More than one Nigerian state faces this phenomenon which seems difficult to eradicate. In my view it will not be eradicated by any severe jail sentence, not even by the capital punishment. The only solution is education, to instruct people that superstition does not lead to success, power or wealth. Nonetheless, the rule of law must apply and perpetrators of heinous crimes must pay for their deeds. (webmaster FVDK).
Ritual killing: Man sentenced to death by hanging
Published: July 7, 2020 By: The News, Nigeria
An Osun State High Court sitting in Ile-Ife on Tuesday sentenced a 37- year-old man, Ogunyemi Oluleke, to death by hanging for murder.
Oluleke was arraigned on March 6, 2013 on two-count charge of murder and conspiracy to murder contrary to Sections 319 and 324 of Criminal Code, Laws of Osun State.
The offences were allegedly committed at Iredunmi area of Ile-Ife and at Oketase area in Ile-Ife around 10:00 a.m on Feb. 17, 2010.
At about 10:00am on Feb. 17, 2010, one Moshood Babalola was killed by cutting off his head with knife at Iredunmi area, ile-ife.
Mr Babalola Sikiru lodged the complaint of his lost son (Moshood Babalola) at More Police Station, Ile-Ife, on Feb. 18, 2010.
The Prosecution Counsel from the Ministry of Justice, Lawyer Tijani Adekilekun, called five witlessness and rendered several exhibits to prove the case.
Adekilekun also informed the court through one of his witnesses, Insp. Rasheedat Olanrewaju, that she was among the three policemen that went to a village in Agbedegbede area.
Olarewaju said that her team went to the house of the convict for a search and during the search, they saw decomposed body of one person in the convict’s house.
In his additional statement after the discovery of deceased corpse in his house on Feb., 2010, Ogunyemi confessed that he killed Moshood Babalola for rituals.
Justice Adedotun Onibokun found the accused guilty of the charges preferred against him.
The Defence Counsel, Mr Olalekan Banjo, pleaded to the court to temper justice with mercy, claiming that his client was a first offender.
On Tuesday, March 10 the Osun State House of Assembly passed into law a bill that made kidnapping, banditry and ritual killing a crime punishable by death. See my March 13, 2020 posting.
Therefore, the following is not surprise. Recently, on Thursday, April 2, an Osun State High Court in Ikirun has sentenced two men to death by hanging for murdering Rofiat Adebisi for money ritual purposes. Rofiat Adebesi was a a student of the Osun State University when she met her untimely death. The following article provides more details though it is not known when the hanging will take place (webmaster FVDK).
2 Men Sentenced To Death For Using Uniosun Final Year Student For Money Ritual (Photos)
Published: April 3, 2020 By: Sundiata Post (Ebere)
An Osun State High Court sitting in Ikirun has sentenced two men to death by hanging for killing one Rofiat Adebisi, who at the time of her death was a student of the Osun State University, Osogbo.
Giving his judgment on Thursday in the trial that lasted almost two and half years, Justice Oyejide Falola, said 25-year-old Elijah Oyebode and Jelili Raji, aka Ifa, 35, should be hanged after he found them guilty of murdering the undergraduate.
The convicts were first arraigned on November 14, 2017, alongside one Yusuf Ajibade on three counts bordering on conspiracy to commit murder and murder contrary to sections 324 and 316, and punishable under sections 319 and 322 of the Criminal Code, Cap.3, Laws of Osun State, 2002.
The prosecution team called five witnesses and tendered exhibits before the court, while the accused testified for themselves.
Giving the facts of the matter, the lead prosecution counsel, Kareem Adekilekun, who appeared with Kemi Oyolola for the Ministry of Justice, said on December 22, 2016, Rofiat, a 400-level student of UniOsun, Ipetu-Ijesa campus, boarded a car driven by Oyebode and went missing.
However, a day after, Rofiat’s dead body was found by the Egbeda/Iragbiji Road.
Following investigation by the police, Ajibade was arrested for selling the deceased’s iPhone to one Kolapo Quadri on the instructions of Oyebode.
When apprehended, Oyebode claimed that Raji hired him to get a lady with the aid of a charm he gave him, which would make the victim to obey all instructions given to her.
Oyebode said Raji paid him N10,000 to bring the victim to his shrine, adding that he hit Rofiat with the charm, while she was putting her luggage in the car.
Giving evidence, a police officer from the Homicide Section of State Criminal Investigation Department, Adeyeye Simon, told the court that Oyebode, a commercial driver plying the Akure-Owena Road, took Rofiat to Raji house’s after he had sex with her.
He also claimed that Rofiat died at Raji’s house, while Oyebode assisted him to dump her remains on the road.
Another witness, Olatomiwa Alade, from the Department of the State Services, said the deceased’s phone was traced to Quadri, who claimed that he bought it from Ajibade.
The counsel for the accused, Suleiman Bello, urged the court to be merciful on his clients.
In his judgment, Justice Falola found Oyebode and Raji guilty of murder and conspiracy, and sentenced them to death by hanging.
The court, however, discharged and acquitted Ajibade on the counts of murder and conspiracy, but sentenced him to two years in prison for receiving stolen property.
Related article: Two to Die by Hanging in Osun for Killing Final Year Student
Published: April 2, 2020 By: Sundiata Post
Abuja – Justice Jide Falola of Osun High Court sitting in Ikirun has sentenced two men to death by hanging for murder.
Falola, in his judgement on Thursday, said the prosecution counsel proved his case against the convicts – Elijah Oyebode, 25, Yusuf Ajibade, 28, and Jelili Raji, 35 – beyond reasonable doubt.
He, however, acquited the second convict, Ajibade, of two-count charge of murder and conspiracy but convicted him on the third count charge of receiving stolen property.
The judge sentenced him to two years imprisonment, while Oyebode and Raji were sentenced to death by hanging.
He also said that the shrine where the deceased was murdered be forfeited to the state government.
The convicts, who were first arraigned on Nov. 14, 2017, pleaded not guilty to three-count-charge of conspiracy to commit murder, murder and stealing preferred against them.
The State Counsel, Mr Kareem Adekilekun, had earlier told the court that the defendants murdered one Miss Rofiat Adebisi, a 400-level student of Osun University, Ipetu-Ijesha, on Dec. 22 2016.
Adekilekun said the offences were contrary to Sections 324 and 316, and punishable under Sections 319 and 322 of the Criminal Code Cap.3 Law of Osun, 2002, respectively.
The prosecution counsel told the court that on that fateful day, the deceased boarded a golf car with Lagos number plate FKJ 636 DL, driven by the first convict, Oyebode.
Adekilekun further told the court that on Dec. 23, 2016, the lifeless body of the deceased was found by the road side along Egbeda road in the state.
He said the convicts were arrested with help of the police through the iPhone 5 of the deceased, which was sold to Ajibade.
Adekilekun said Oyebode, in his confessional statement, said that Raji asked him to supply him a maid.
According to the prosecution counsel, a charm was given to Oyebode by Raji to charm any lady that he will bring and that such lady will be unconscious.
He also explained that in Oyebode confessional statement, he said the charm was used against the deceased.
He said Oyebode thereafter handed the deceased to Raji in his shrine and paid him N10,000.
He also told the court that the confessional statements of the three convicted persons were corroborated by the police, whose report showed that Oyebode had sex with deceased before taking her to Raji’s shrine.
Counsel to convicts, Mr Suleiman Bello, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy.(NAN)
There are so many reports on ritualistic killings in Liberia, one should almost lose track. Below is another article, dating from 2005, on ritualistic murders in Maryland County, perhaps the most notorious region of Liberia as far as ritual murders are concerned. (webmaster FVDK)
Hanging of Convicted Ritual Killers (‘Harper Seven’) in Harper City, Maryland County (1979) – Picture by FVDK Fred van der Kraaij
Some panic-stricken inhabitants of the southeastern county of Maryland, mainly in Harper city, over the weekend took the law into their hands when they staged a violent protest over the wave of ritualistic killings which has re-surfaced in the area.
The county is noted for ritualistic killings, despite serious actions taken over the years by the Liberian government – by putting perpetrators to death by hanging while giving others lengthy prison sentences.
According to latest report emerging from the county, hundreds of angry residents came out to protest the alleged failure of the appropriate security apparatus to curtail the wave of ritualistic killings in the county.
During the violence demonstration staged by the youth of the county, several persons were victimized while several business houses and private homes were reportedly attacked and looted by the mobs. Liberia’s Justice Minister, Cllr. Kabineh Ja’neh told journalists in Monrovia this week that the mobs attacked the National Police Headquarters on Green Street in Harper and released several prisoners sentenced for various crimes.
The Justice Minister explained further that the mobs ransacked the Harper Police headquarters and flogged two detainees severely. The two victims, according to minister, have been accused of being involved in the ritualistic killing in the county.
In order to restore calm in the area, the transitional government has imposed a dust to dawn curfew in the county, while at the same time the government has instituted a thorough probe into circumstances that led to the mob action.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary General Special Representative in Liberia, Ambassador Jacques Paul Klein told journalists in Monrovia that the UN Mission in Liberia is carefully studying the situation in the county.
According to the UN diplomat, UN peacekeepers are on standby to move into the county should the situation continue in an effort to help ensure the safety and security of the people of Maryland. Warning the residents to remain in doors during he curfew which run from 6: PM to 6:AM daily, ambassador Klein said UNMIL will provide full security for the people of the county.
The situation in the past led to severe punishment administered against convicted sons and daughters of the county, with some of them being publicly hanged to death, while others were given long prison sentences. Among those hanged were the former Superintendent of the County, James Anderson, Jr., Allen Yancy, Francis Nyepan, Philip Seton, Oldman Barclay and Madam Wreh Tarnyonoh, just to name few. They were hanged on 17th February 1979 during the regime of the late President William R. Tolbert, Jr. after a guilty verdict was brought down against them for killing a popular Kru traditional singer Moses Tweh.
Similar situation re-emerged in 1986 and took away the lives of two little kids in the county. Those connected to the act include former NDPL county chairman, David Clark, Alfred Davies, Jasper Bedell, Gbason Toe and one Gardner. They were arrested and brought to Monrovia where they were sentenced to prolong detention while under going investigation.
Another 200 persons were round-up by the former Superintendent of the county now Minister of Internal affairs, Minister H. Dan Morais for the mysterious death of Lt. Alphonso Chalde, former employee of the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization (BIN).
