South Africa: Suspected ritual killer arrested in Welbedacht

South Africa: suspected ritual killer arrested in Welbedacht

Published: January 23, 2018
By: Yoshini Perumal

According to communications officer of the Chatsworth SAPS, Cpt Cheryl Pillay, during the early hours of Sunday morning, residents of Welbedacht West discovered the body of a 42-year-old man.

Within hours of a suspected ritual killing, investigators from the Chatsworth SAPS arrested one suspect and recovered the alleged weapon used to commit the gruesome murder in Welbedacht West, on Sunday.

According to communications officer of the Chatsworth SAPS, Cpt Cheryl Pillay, during the early hours of Sunday morning, residents of Welbedacht West discovered the body of a 42-year-old man.

“The deceased was discovered with multiple stab wounds and his genitals removed. A family member has identified the victim,” she said.

The 52-year-old accused will appear in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court soon. Acting station commander, Col Krish Nair, commended the swift action taken by the investigators and the subsequent arrest of the accused.

“We sympathise with the family during their time of bereavement. The Chatsworth SAPS is committed to ensuring that perpetrators of such heinous crimes are arrested and removed from society,” he said.

Welbedacht is situated in Lehurutshe, North West, South Africa.

Source: Suspected ritual killer arrested in Welbedacht

Ritual killing: shocking revelations by Gabon footballer Shiva N’Zigou

International football player Shiva N’Zigou

Published: August 17, 2018
By: Sputnik International / Africa news

International football player Shiva N’Zigou, who at some point played at the French club Nantes noted that his mother had been killed in a ritual act for him.

In a video, reposted by the Le Chronique du Gabon YouTube channel and apparently first released by a local television channel, former Gabonese forward Shiva N’Zigou addresses the general public revealing his mother was killed for the sake of his football success.

According to Shiva, his father committed the horrendous act as a ritual killing “in the name of his business prosperity,” namely to keep the money his son earned to himself, so that Shiva could then make further progress in football. According to Shiva, the financial aspect had been an issue in the family.

The footballer separately noted that at the beginning of his sports career, his parents faked his ID, changing his name and reducing his age by five years.

Shiva also provided a couple of saucy details about his personal life, saying he had had relationships with men, one of whom he reportedly dated for a year, as well as had “rapports,” or liaisons with his aunt and sister during some religious festivities.

N’Zigou played for multiple football clubs, including French FC Nantes, and rounded off his career in 2016. The player partook in 24 matches as part of the national Gabonese squad from 2000 to 2008, netting five goals. N’Zigou is believed to have been the youngest player in the African Cup championship, reportedly making his debut at the age of 16.

Source: Incest, Ritual Killing: Shocking Revelations by Gabon Footballer Released Online

Related article: Football. Les terribles confessions de l’ancien Nantais Shiva Star N’Zigou
Translation: Football. The awful confessions of former FC Nantes player Shiva Star N’Zigou

Published: August 17, 2018, 4:39 PM
By: Ouest France

L’ancien joueur international espoir gabonais Shiva Star N’Zigou, formé à Nantes, s’est confessé sur les dérives du football dont il a été victime dans sa vie.

Il y a des histoires qui font froid dans le dos, celle de Shiva Star N’zigou en fait incontestablement partie. Dans une vidéo publiée sur YouTube où on a du mal à le reconnaître, le joueur formé à Nantes et ancien international espoir gabonais s’est confié sur les zones d’ombre de sa carrière de footballeur lors d’une cérémonie religieuse. Et le moins que l’on puisse dire c’est que le joueur avait le cœur lourd.

Un âge falsifié

C’est une pratique malheureusement répandue dans le monde du football africain même si elle peut paraître un peu clichée. L’ancien canari avoue dans sa confession filmée que son âge a été falsifié en avançant sa date de naissance, de quoi le vieillir de 5 ans. La raison : mieux réussir dans le football. Très vite repéré à l’âge de 14 ans par le SCO d’Angers alors qu’il évolue encore dans son pays natal, Il terminera meilleur buteur des U15 nationaux du SCO, et pour cause il avait 5 ans de plus que ses coéquipiers et adversaires. Il est notamment le plus jeune joueur à avoir disputé une CAN et avoir inscrit un but lors d’une CAN. Dans sa confidence le joueur admet entre autres que son vrai prénom a été modifié à son arrivée en France, le Gabonais s’appellerait en vérité Shiva, nom tiré du spiritueux Chivas.

Déviances sexuelles effroyables

Le Gabonais de naissance en a plus sur le cœur que ce simple aveu et délivre un véritable récit aussi poignant qu’effroyable, qui a au moins le mérite d’une sincérité que peu oseraient avoir. L’ancien footballeur hésite tout en précisant à son auditoire que « c’est délicat » de dévoiler ce qu’il s’apprête à raconter. L’homme, aujourd’hui âgé de presque 40 ans aujourd’hui, dévoile qu’il a dû avoir des relations sexuelles avec sa tante quand il était « plus jeune ». Rien que cet aveu laisse de marbre mais l’homme continue et explique « qu’il a reproduit ces rapports avec sa sœur », faisant comprendre en substance qu’il a eu des rapports sexuels avec sa propre sœur. Partagé entre la sincérité et la noirceur de ses propos, la vidéo continue et l’effroi de ce qu’il a à confesser aussi, de mal en pis. « Après j’ai eu à coucher avec un ami à moi ». On peut donc comprendre selon la tournure de sa phrase que l’acte n’était pas consenti et s’il n’y a pas plus de précision sur le contexte de cette relation on pourrait en déduire qu’il a été contraint et forcé.

Mère sacrifiée

C’est sûrement le point d’orgue de son horrible récit. L’ancien footballeur avoue que sa mère a été sacrifiée. En cause : les discordes créées par les rentrées d’argent provenant des nombreux contrats qu’il a signés. Selon lui son père aurait tout bonnement tué sa mère afin de garder l’argent pour lui seul sous prétexte de vouloir lui « accoler son esprit » pour qu’il réussisse encore mieux sa carrière. Quand on dit que l’argent rend fou…

Impossible de ne pas sortir ému de ce récit, bien que très glauque. Il faut souligner le courage qu’il lui a fallu pour confesser de tels actes qui relèvent de l’horreur pour le commun des mortels mais qui auront peut-être le mérite de délier les langues si de telles pratiques sont monnaie courante.

Source: Football. Les terribles confessions de l’ancien Nantais Shiva Star N’Zigou

More:

Mère sacrifiée, inceste, papiers falsifiés… l’effroyable confession de l’ancien Nantais Shiva Star N’Zigou
RMCSport.BFM https://rmcsport.bfmtv.com , August 17, 2018

Ancien joueur de Nantes, Gueugnon ou encore Reims, Shiva Star N’Zigou a fait une effroyable confession lors d’une cérémonie religieuse. Le Gabonais révèle notamment que sa mère a été tuée par son mari pour des raisons d’argent liées au football.

Si vous suiviez la Ligue 1 au début des années 2000, son nom vous dit sans doute quelque chose. Joueur de Nantes entre 1998 et 2005, puis passé ensuite par Gueugnon et Reims, jusqu’en 2010, Shiva Star N’Zigou refait parler de lui. Et cela fait froid dans le dos. Lors d’une cérémonie religieuse filmée, on voit l’ancien international gabonais se confesser en public au sujet de son passé et de sa famille. Et révéler des choses effroyables.

“Ma mère est décédée par rapport à mon football, elle a été sacrifiée en fait, a-t-il déclaré. Parce que j’ai signé beaucoup de contrats et que ça ramenait beaucoup d’argent à la famille, ça amenait des discordes. Et mon père, pour garder tout l’argent pour lui, a décidé de sacrifier ma mère pour que son esprit me soit accolé et que je réussisse encore plus dans le football. Et c’est ce qui a été fait. Mon père me l’a dit en songe. Moi je n’étais pas d’accord, j’avais refusé, mais malheureusement ça s’est fait. (…) Pour le Seigneur, on a participé, donc le sang de ma mère est tombé sur moi. Donc je demande pardon au Seigneur.”

“J’ai eu des rapports avec ma tante, je les ai reproduits sur ma soeur”

L’ancien international gabonais a aussi révélé que ses papiers et sa date de naissance avaient été modifiés et qu’en réalité, il avait “cinq ans de plus”, soit 39 ans au lieu de 34. N’Zigou a aussi révélé des pratiques incestueuses lors de son enfance. “Quand j’étais plus jeune, j’ai eu des rapports avec ma tante, a-t-il confessé. Je les ai reproduits sur ma sœur”. “J’ai aussi couché avec un ami à moi, un homme, a-t-il poursuivi. J’ai aussi eu une autre relation de longue durée avec un homme, qui était aussi un ami à moi.”

And:

Incest and spiritual sacrifice: the shocking story of Shiva N’Zigou
OneFootball, August 19, 2018

Liberia’s elections, ritual killings and cannibalism (2011)

I have written extensively about Liberia’s history of ritual killings, in books, articles, and on my website ‘Liberia: Past and Present of Africa’s Oldest Republic‘, notably in the section ‘Past and Present of Ritual Killings: From Cultural Phenomenon to Political Instrument‘.

I was confronted with the phenomenon of ritualistic murders in Liberia when living in Monrovia – where I taught at the University of Liberia – and, later, in Harper, capital of Maryland County, in the second half of the 1970s. In Harper I witnessed the public execution of the Harper Seven, in 1979. They were convicted of the ritual murder of a fisherman and popular singer, Moses Tweh, and sentenced to death by hanging. The trial of the Harper Seven turned out to be Liberia’s most notorious ritual killing case.

Big shots’ were involved, such as Maryland County’s Superintendent, Daniel Anderson – son of the Chairman of Liberia’s only political party, the True Whig Party – and Allen Yancy, member of the House of Representatives for Maryland County and cousin of former Liberian president William Tubman (1944 – 1971). Reportedly, Allen Yancy had been involved in previous ritual murder cases but he was never convicted, allegedly because of Tubman’s protection.
Ritualistic killings in Liberia have been rampant, and I fear the gruesome practice has far from disappeared – as is demonstrated by the article reproduced below.

The article reproduced below summarizes well Liberia’s recent history of ritualistic murders. What used to be a cultural phenomenon – human sacrifices for the well-being of the clan or tribe – has become a political instrument, used by unscrupulous politicians and businessmen to further their interests.

I will not dwell too long here on these atrocities and outdated but persistent beliefs in supernatural powers. Readers are invited to visit my website for more details.

Last but not least, my publications on ritual murders in Liberia became the prelude to the present website on ritual killings in Africa in general. See the site’s menu, notably the section ‘Why publish this site?

Public execution by hanging of the ‘Harper Seven’, including Maryland Superintendent Daniel Anderson and Representative Allen Yancy, at dawn in Harper, Liberia on February 16, 1979. Picture taken by Fred van der Kraaij (copyrights).


Liberia’s elections, ritual killings and cannibalism

Published: August 01, 2011 · 10:52 AM UTC
By: Emily Schmall and Wade Williams

MONROVIA, Liberia — The pregnant woman was found dead in the shallows of Lake Shepherd. The fetus had been removed.

A candidate for Liberia’s Senate and a former county attorney are among those standing trial for the 2009 murder, the latest in a long history of ritual sacrifices performed for political power in Liberia.

In this case in southeastern Maryland County, prosecutors were tipped off by a witch doctor who provided a list of 18 people allegedly connected to the killing, including Fulton Yancy, the former county attorney, and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s Special Envoy and Ambassador-at-Large Dan Morias.

Vials of blood were discovered in Yancy’s home. Nine were charged with murder but were released earlier this month following a Supreme Court ruling.

Liberia will have general elections later this year and the ritual killings tend to flare up during election season, according to Jerome Verdier, former chairman of Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

”Unfortunately it happens during elections time because people are competing for political power, they don’t know God and they believe that these supernatural powers will come to them once human blood is shed,” Verdier said.

During Liberia’s two-decades-long civil war hundreds were killed for ritual purposes, the TRC discovered during its hearings.

”During our research at the TRC we found out that bloodshedding was very, very common during the conflict. People killed indiscriminately women and children believing that it would give them some power to continue fighting and that they would be protected,” said Verdier.

Liberia’s Maryland County has traditionally been the hub for the country’s ritual murders. The killings have haunted the southeastern county for decades. In recent years, however, ritual killing cases have cropped up across the country.

Verdier said some of those who confessed at the TRC hearing gave graphic accounts of ritual killings they carried out.

“People went as far as eating their opponent’s body — when such person is killed in battle they cook their body to eat, believing that the spirit, the powerful spirit of that person, will come to them and by eating them, the person’s power is completely destroyed, so there can be no reemergence in that person’s family line or their ethnic line.”

‘General Butt Naked’, a notorious warlord in Liberia’s First Civil war (1989 – 1997) testified and confessed before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that he committed numerous ritualistic murders and ate body parts of his victims.

A former warlord who calls himself General Butt Naked and who fought against former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, confessed in 2008 to taking part in human sacrifices that included the killing of a child and “plucking out the heart, which was divided into pieces for us to eat.”

In 2005, the leader of Liberia’s transitional government, Gyude Bryant, pledged to hang anyone found guilt of ritual killing.

Dispatched to Maryland County by President Johnson Sirleaf to calm residents’ fears earlier this year, Justice Minister Christiana Tah acknowledged that “there are still lots of unresolved cases of this nature,” according to a report in the daily New Democrat.

In a case from the 1970s known as the Maryland Murders, seven people, including Fulton Yancy’s older brother Allen Yancy, a member of the House of Representatives, were hanged for killing a fisherman (see picture above). The following year Defense Minister Gray D. Allison was convicted of killing a police officer whose body was discovered on the Bong Mines railroad, apparently used in a ritual sacrifice. The government at the time displayed blood drained in gallons believed to be that of the dead man.

Dan Morias, one of those accused of the 2009 killing of a pregnant woman, is planning to run for senator in the upcoming legislative elections in October. He has maintained that the charges against him are politically motivated. He must be cleared of the charges to be eligible to run for office.

Morias is listed in the TRC report for alleged abuses committed while he served as Minister of Internal Affairs for the Charles Taylor regime. When reached by GlobalPost, Morias said he could not comment on the case as it would be “prejudicial,” but insisted that the evidence against him — namely the testimony of a witch doctor — was “weak.”

Earlier this year, President Johnson Sirleaf warned Maryland County citizens against seeking retribution for the killings with a traditional practice called “sassywood” or “trial by ordeal.”

The government insists that trial by ordeal is illegal and Johnson Sirleaf banned the practice in April 2007. Since then traditional leaders have been pleading with the government to allow them to practice the act which they believe is the only way justice can be served in cases like these.

“Sassywood” is the insertion of an accused person’s extremity into hot oil or the placing of a heated metal on a suspect’s body. If the suspect is burned then it is concluded that he or she is guilty but if there is no burn then the suspect is deemed innocent and set free. Those found guilty are killed.

The police are working to stamp out both the ritual killings and the “sassywood” practices, said George Bardue, spokesman for the Liberia National Police: “The police are doing everything possible to make sure that these things do not happen.”

Emily Schmall is a multimedia journalist now based in Monrovia, Liberia, where she serves as country director for New Narratives, a journalism mentorship project for women. Wade Williams is a New Narratives fellow and an editor at FrontPage Africa, Liberia’s most widely circulated newspaper.

Source: Liberia’s elections, ritual killings and cannibalism
GlobalPost