Category Archives: twins

Nigeria: Delta court sentences man to death for killing twins for rituals

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Warning: The following articles may upset readers because of the graphic contents (webmaster FVDK).

The surge in murders for ritualistic purposes and related witchcraft activities in certain SSA countries has led to an increasing cry for the restoration of the death penalty for convicted ritual killers. In recent years, several African countries have resorted to the (sometimes) re-introduction of capital punishment in an attempt to stop these criminal and outdated traditional practices. In Nigeria a number of states have adopted legislation allowing the sentencing to death of convicted ritual murderers which does not always mean that they are actually executed.

National and international organizations like Amnesty International emphasize that the death penalty breaches human rights including the right to life and the right to live free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Both rights are protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN in 1948. Nigeria is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Please note: the link which leads to the Punch article reproduced below also mentions three other cases of ritualistic killings (‘money rituals’) in Nigeria: two in Anambra State (including a suspected case of ritual killing) and one in Ogun State. Though a coincidence it illustrates well that ‘money rituals’ are rampant in Africa’s most populated country.
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Nigeria: Delta court sentences man to death for killing twins for rituals

Published: July 16, 2024
By: Matthew Ochei – Punch, Nigeria

A High Court sitting at Asaba, the Delta State capital, has sentenced one Onuwa Ijie to death, and Nwanozie Uzor to 14 years imprisonment for murder and conspiracy to commit the murder of twin boys, Chidalu and Chigozie Agwunobi.

The court presided over by Justice Onome Marshal-Umukoro sentenced two convicts over the murder of the seven-year-old boys.

The prosecution conducted by a Deputy Director in the Ministry of Justice, Mrs Paula Akpoguma, in proof of the case called five witnesses.

The court held that the testimony of the five witnesses proved the case against the two defendants beyond reasonable doubt.

The prosecution stated that tragedy struck the family of Olise Agwunobi of Oko-Ogbele Community on March 5, 2020, when their seven-year-old twin boys were lured by the defendants to a bush and they proceeded to cut off their penis, eyes, tongues and hands which they hurriedly took to a native doctor at Aguleri in Anambra State.

“One of the defendants had earlier gone to the school of the twin children to take them but was turned down by the school teacher, one Mrs Emelda Ezekwude,” she said.

Delivering his judgment, Justice Marshal-Umukoro stated that after carefully evaluating the evidence presented before him, the prosecution had discharged the burden of proof as the first defendant from his confessional statement was the person who sowed the seed of committing human rituals in the mind of the second defendant by giving the phone number of one Chukwudi  Edemuzor who was alleged to be searching for twins to kill for money.

The court maintained that the law is settled that the testimony of an investigating police officer was not hearsay evidence, and the court can rely on it.

Speaking with journalists after the judgment on Tuesday, the prosecuting counsel, Akpoguma thanked the court for upholding the cause of justice, “reaffirming that the judicial system works.”

Source: Delta court sentences man to death for killing twins for rituals

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Court sentences man to death over murder of twins in Delta

Published: July 17, 2024
By: Damilare Famuyima – Pulse, Nigeria

The twins boys were seven years old (Daily Trust)

The suspect and his accomplice were said to have murdered the twin boys for ritual purposes.

Justice Onome Marshal Umukoro of a High Court in Asaba, Delta State Capital, has sentenced Onuwa Ijie to death and his accomplice, Nwanozie Uzor, to 14 years imprisonment for the murder and conspiracy to murder twin boys, Chidalu and Chigozie Agwunobi.

The sentencing came after the court heard the case against the two men for the murder of the seven-year-old boys.

Deputy Director in the Ministry of Justice, Paula Akpoguma, led the prosecution, presenting five witnesses to support the case. 

A sixth witness, 15-year-old Iweka Ajie, the younger brother of one of the defendants, initially agreed to testify via video link but ultimately refused out of fear.

The court determined that the testimony of the five witnesses sufficiently proved the case against the defendants beyond a reasonable doubt. 

According to the prosecution, on March 5, 2020, the family of Olise Agwunobi of Oko-Ogbele Community suffered a tragedy when their seven-year-old twin boys were lured to a bush by the defendants. 

There, the boys were mutilated, and their body parts were taken to a native doctor in Aguleri, Anambra State.

“One of the defendants had earlier attempted to take the children from their school but was turned away by the school teacher, Mrs. Emelda Ogugua Ezekwude,” Akpoguma said.

Justice Onome Marshal-Umukoro, in his judgment, concluded that the prosecution had met the burden of proof.

He noted that the first defendant’s confessional statement indicated that he had introduced the idea of human rituals to the second defendant by providing the phone number of Chukwudi Edemuzor, who was allegedly seeking twins for ritual purposes.

The court held that the testimony of the Investigating Police Officer was admissible and not hearsay.

After the judgment, Akpoguma expressed gratitude to the court for delivering justice, reaffirming her belief in the effectiveness of the judicial system.

Source: Court sentences man to death over murder of twins in Delta

Some of the deadliest human sacrifices in history

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The article below is not specifically describing the actual situation in one or more African countries. The article is brief and superficial. The reason why I decided to post it here is that it illustrates the fact that ritualistic killings, human sacrifices, and the belief that sacrificing a human being in a ritual with the objective to please the gods or the ancestors are as old as mankind and have occurred or are still occurring all over the world.

It goes without saying that although these age-old practices occur world-wide, they have no place in the 3rd millennium of mankind.
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SOME OF THE DEADLIEST HUMAN SACRIFICES IN HISTORY

Published: December 12, 2022
By: Oluwatomiwa Ogunniyi – Guardian, Nigeria  

In the past, human sacrifices were prevalent all over the world.  The manner in which they were carried out was dreadful and not for the faint-hearted. We have compiled a list of some of the deadliest human sacrifices in history; you wouldn’t believe some of them!

  1. Persecution of People with albinism

Albinism is a genetically inherited condition that is very rare and it affects approximately one in every 20,000 people worldwide. Though rare in the western world, albinism is fairly common in sub-Saharan Africa, most likely, as a result of consanguineous alliances. Even though albinism occurs in both males and females and is not specific to any race or ethnic group, many still believe that it is a punishment from God or a result of hard luck.

Some Africans still believe that certain parts of an albino’s body have magical powers. This belief has led to many witch doctors and those seeking ingredients for their rituals to kill them. As a result, thousands of people with albinism have been killed and dismembered, and their graves of dug up and desecrated. The scary thing is that this practice is still common in Africa today. 

  • The Lafkenches Tribe Sacrifice

In the year 1960, the strongest earthquake and tsunami ever recorded on the moment magnitude scale hit Chile, thereby, killing thousands of people and destroying many homes and properties in the process. This earthquake became known as the great Chilean earthquake and it led to widespread fear of the possible cause. The people came to the conclusion that the god of the sea was angry with them and so they decided to offer a sacrifice.

They chose a five-year-old child and sacrificed him in a horrifying manner: he had his legs and arms and was stuck into the sand of the beach like a stake and the beach carried him away so that the waters would be calmed. The culprits were arrested and charged but they were released after two years.

  • The Mayan Sinkhole Sacrifices  

During the pre-Columbian era, the Mayans are known to have carried out all manner of ritual sacrifices, as they believed that human sacrifice was the ritual offering of nourishment to the gods. And one manner of sacrifice practised was the sinkhole, where they deposited valuables and human bodies into the cenote as a form of sacrifice to the rain god Chaac.

They also believed that the sinkholes and cenotes were portals to the underworld and they would appease dead spirits by offering human sacrifices to them. Explorers have discovered many sinkholes including the Sacred Cenote, a water-filled sinkhole at the pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site on Peninsula. Archaeological investigations have removed thousands of objects from the bottom of the cenote, including artefacts made from gold, jadeite, copal, wood, rubber and cloth, as well as thousands of human skeletons.

  • The Child Sacrifice in Carthage

Child sacrifices were very common in ancient cultures maybe because they believed that children possessed innocent souls and therefore were acceptable as forms of sacrifices to gods.

The Carthaginians would have a sacrificial fire pit where children would be thrown into by their parents. The practice became very repulsive to the Carthaginian parents who became tired of killing their own children. In response, they decided to buy children from neighbouring poor tribes, or care for their servant’s children who would then be offered as sacrifices. And during calamities like war, drought or famine, the priests demanded that even the youth be offered as a sacrifice. The sacrifices were carried out on a moonlit night, the children would be killed generously and their bodies would be tossed into the fiery pit amidst singing and dancing.

  • The Killing of Twins in Nigeria

This is another form of child sacrifice as the killing of twins was a cultural practice among some ethnic groups in Nigeria. Back then, multiple births were seen as an abomination against the earth deity and giving birth to twins was considered a bad omen that could bring devastation or calamity upon society. Twin babies were believed not to be humans but evil.

In 1876, Mary Slessor, a Scottish missionary assigned to Calabar, gradually worked towards changing the cultural belief that twins were evil. However, by 1915, following intervention by the British government, twins and their mothers were fully integrated into their communities. 

Source: Some of the deadliest human sacrifices in history

Uncle kills seven-year-old twins for rituals in Delta State, flees (Nigeria)

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Superstition is a curse. Its spread is like a virus… and it kills… How on earth can one believe that by murdering someone one increases wealth, power or prestige? ‘Money rituals’ in Nigeria cannot be compared to the traditional ritual killings which were performed for the sake of the wellbeing of the community – but which also don’t have a place in a modern society. Taking someone’s life is a crime. And should be punished.
   
Warning: the article below contains graphic details of the gruesome crime (webmaster FVDK)

Uncle kills seven-year-old twins for rituals in Delta, flees

Published: March 28, 2020
By: Punch Nigeria – Afeez Hanafi    

The joy heralding the birth of a child is usually indescribable let alone arrival of twins. That was the feeling seven years ago when Chiagozie and Chidalu Agwunobi, were welcomed to the Oliseh clan in Oko Ogbele Community, Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State. They were a bundle of joy to their parents as they grew up happily in months and years.

Few days ago, that joy was blown away like a candle in the wind when they went missing and their dismembered bodies later found in a bush. They were cruelly killed by their uncle, Onuwa Oliseh, who is still at large.

Onuwa reportedly lured the seven-year-old male twins to the bush within the neighbourhood on Friday, March 6, after they returned from school and butchered them. He was said to have removed some of their body parts for money rituals and dumped the remains.

Investigation by operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team in the state led to the arrest of Onuwa’s accomplice, Kelvin Uzor, who is also a relation of the twins.

“Police got information that on March 6, the twins were missing from their parents’ house. Their bodies were later found in the bush on March 8 with some parts of their bodies mutilated. Their eyes, hands and private parts were missing. Police began investigation and generated enough intelligence that led to the arrest of Uzor. He confessed that they were a three-man gang and wanted to do money ritual with the body parts,” a senior officer told Saturday PUNCH.

Our correspondent learnt that Onuwa’s younger brother, Iweka, who attended the same school with the twins, told the police that the suspect asked him to lure the deceased from the school.

“I am a primary four pupil of Ekeanya Primary School. On March 6, at about 6.30am, my elder brother Onuwa Ajei Oliseh, asked me if I would go to school and I told him yes. He asked if I can help him bring out the twins from the school before the school closes that day and I told him no because their teacher would not agree.

“That day when I came back from school, I saw my brother place a cutlass on the table where he was eating while I went to the backyard. It was later I heard that the twins were missing and their dead bodies were found in the bush,” he told detectives.

The twins’ father, Agwunobi Oliseh, stated that Onuwa visited his house that Friday in the morning and asked him if they (the twins) would go to school. He said he responded in affirmative, unknown that Onuwa was plotting to kill his beloved kids.

The 52-year-old farmer said when his children returned from school, Onuwa came back and asked them to follow him to the stream in the community.

He said, “I am a traditionalist and a farmer. I’m married with seven kids. My twins were seven years old. On March 6 in the early morning, Onuwa came to my house and inquired if my late children would go to school and I said yes. I later learnt he told his younger brother, Iweka, to help him take my children out of the school premises. He said he wanted to go somewhere with them.

“Later in the day, he went to their school and tried to take them out but he was chased away by their teacher. As soon as they came back, he came to my house and asked them to follow him to the stream. I think they were on their way when he brought out a cutlass and killed them.”

The distraught father, who noted that he and his wife were not around when Onuwa took the twins away, said he was told the suspect ran home with bloodstains.

“According to his brother, he ran back home with his hands stained with blood. He then asked the brother to pour water on his hands while he washed the machete with which he killed the twins. He left for Uzor’s house and both of them went to one Anam.

“It was when I came back later in the day with my wife that I realised the twins were missing. While I was running around, Iweka told me that it was Onuwa who took my children. Onuwa ran away but we were able to find Uzor who told us where their bodies were dumped. We went there and found their mutilated bodies. Their eyes, tongues and hands were removed,” he added.

Uzor, in his statement, admitted the twins were killed for rituals but denied partaking in their murder.

He said one of his friends, called Chukwudi, told him of a traditionalist in Anambra who could help them to perform money rituals with children not above age 12.

The 18-year-old primary school leaver stated that he informed Onuwa, who agreed to the plan.

He said, “I stopped schooling after my primary school education because my parents did not have money. I worked for a farmer called Egwiyo. I served him for many years and he promised to give me money this year. Chukwudi told me there was a place where we could do money rituals in Anambra and he asked if I was interested.

“We later told Onuwa who agreed to do it. I told them I was not interested but if they want to do it, they could go ahead. I told them I would be happy if they succeeded. I was sleeping when Onuwa called me and said he had killed the twins. He said he took their bodies to one native doctor in Delta but the man told him he wasn’t into money rituals.

“He later called me when the heat was much and told me where he dumped the bodies. Now, police said I was the one who killed the twins. Onuwa took the body parts to a herbalist in Aguleri, Anambra.’’

Uzor said immediately he learnt about the twin’s murder, he ran to Anambra where he was tracked down by the police. He added that he gave tacit support for the crime in the hope that he would be given money to buy a car and build a house if it worked out.

He said, “I wanted to become a young chief because most of the young men I know did not work as hard as I did and now they are millionaires. I am a farmer and hardworking but I was not making enough money. I have no savings. That was why I somehow agreed to be part of the plan.

“Onuwa convinced me it was the fastest way to make money and that most of our colleagues made money through that means. My greatest mistake was that I did not inform my family when Onuwa suggested that we should use the twins.

“I love the twins so much and their parents are nice. I cautioned him but I don’t know that he would still go ahead to kill them. They normally went to his house to play; so it was easy for him to take them out without anyone being suspicious. I was not in the bush when he killed them.”

Uzor revealed further that the initial plan was to use an elderly woman in the community for the money ritual but he prevailed on the gang to spare the woman because she was generous.

“Initially, they wanted to use one old woman known as Nne Amaka, but I pleaded with them to leave her because she is nice. If I passed by and begged her for water, she would give me water and even food.

“I feel bad because he betrayed me. I am appealing to young men that money ritual does not pay. I am a hard working man and well known. Even when my name was mentioned in the crime, a lot of people came out to defend me. I am sorry. I want the family to forgive me,” he added.

Saturday PUNCH learnt that the remains of the twins had been deposited at the General Hospital, Igbuzor while IRT detectives led by DCP Abba Kyari had launched a manhunt for the fleeing suspects.

Source: Uncle kills seven-year-old twins for rituals in Delta, flees