One of the craziest stories I read yesterday (see yesterday’s posting) follows below. It contains a wise lesson but also a chilling story. Whereas at fist sight it reports on ‘ordinary’ criminal activities, the reader soon discovers that more is going on: ritualistic activities, ‘money business’, ‘money rituals’ – and that’s the reason why the article has been included here.
The incidents took place in various parts of the country, not related to a particular region, social class, or ethnic group. The first mentioned murder occurred recently in Lagos (June 2021), but other reported ‘money rituals’ happened in Benue State, Ogun State, Ondo State, Osun State, and – again – Lagos State (2012, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021). Some of these murder cases have been reported on extensively earlier on this site.
Warning: Some readers may find the following story disturbing (FVDK).
MORE AND MORE NIGERIANS ARE FALLING VICTIM TO HARBINGERS OF DEATH DISGUISING AS LOVERS, KUNLE AKINRINADE REPORTS FOLLOWING THE CASE OF A COMPANY’S CHIEF EXECUTIVE FOUND DEAD LAST SUNDAY IN A LAGOS SERVICE APARTMENT HE ALLEGEDLY LODGED IN WITH A SIDE CHIC.
Published: June 26, 2021 By: The Nation, Nigeria- Kunle Akinrinade
Incidents of individuals’ death in the process of romance with the opposite sex increased by one early in the week with the demise of billionaire businessman and chief executive officer of Super TV, Michael Usifo Ataga, allegedly after an outing with a side chic.
Ataga, a resident of highbrow Banana Island in Lagos, was said to have been reported missing on Sunday by concerned friends and family members as his whereabouts became unknown.
Everyone, including his wife and children who were resident in Abuja, was said to have become worried when the checks made at Ataga’s office in Victoria Island, Lagos showed that he was nowhere in sight while he could also not be found at his Banana Island residence.
It turned out later that his lifeless body was found in a three-bedroom service apartment in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos with multiple wounds inflicted on his body and several withdrawals made from his bank account supposedly by a mystery woman he had checked into the apartment with.
Investigation conducted by security agents would later reveal that Ataga’s death occurred about two weeks after he met the woman in question and they checked into the said apartment at Lekki Phase 1.
A combined team of the police and DSS operatives from Abuja were said to have unveiled the identity of the owner of the apartment in which Ataga was found dead and it was discovered that she had received payments from the side chic’s bank account into which Ataga himself had previously made a transfer.
Happily, the side chic in question has since been tracked down by security operatives and arrested alongside the owner of the Lekki Phase 1 apartment.
One death too many
Ataga’s case is one in the long list of Nigerians who in recent times have fallen victim to murderous fraudsters disguising as lovers. For instance, when Akin Alupaida invited his girlfriend from her base in Ibadan, Oyo State to his base in Apomu, Isokan Local Government Area, Osun State on June 8, the unnamed lady had no reason to suspect that she was about to be murdered by the man that had professed love to her.
However, the said lady was butchered into pieces by her supposed lover after a romp at an apartment belonging to the latter’s friend. The police said that Akin’s accomplice and owner of the apartment, Kabiru Oyeduntan, barged into the room and assisted his friend in strangling the 20-year-old lady to death and dismembering her for ritual purposes.
Parading Oyeduntan at the Osun Police Command headquarters on June 11, the Commissioner of Police, Wale Olokode, explained that the suspect was arrested based on a tip-off from members of the public. Olokode said the head, wrist, and other parts of the lady’s body were found by detectives inside a box in one of the suspect’s rooms.
In his confession, Oyeduntan said the lady in question was killed for the purpose of using her for money rituals by his identified as Akin (O’clumsy) Alupaida.
He said: “It was my friend that brought the lady to my place from Ibadan. But he already told me that he wanted to do a money ritual. He sought my assistance and promised to give me N50,000. I agreed.”
“While he was having sex with her, I came in and assisted him to hold her two legs, and he strangled her to death.
“Akin was the one who dismembered the lady’s body. He removed the heart, private parts and took them away.”
Eighteen months after she mysteriously disappeared amid preparations for her wedding in December 2019, the remains of Josephine Cynthia Onche, an operative of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), were found in a shallow grave in the Obi Local Government Area, Benue State, where her body was dumped after she was killed for rituals by the same man she had announced in a wedding invite as her husband to-be.
The arrest of Josephine’s would-be husband, Christopher, led to the exhumation of her body from a shallow grave in a local government close to Otukpo.
It was said that a commercial motorcyclist who knew about the incident reported to Josephine’s family.
Christopher had allegedly brought in a native doctor from Ogun State to carry out money rituals with Josephine’s body parts.
“The commercial motorcycle rider led security operatives to arrest Christopher, an Igbo man, and he led the police to Ogun State where they arrested a native doctor who allegedly performed a ritual with the woman’s body in Obi Local Government Area of Benue State before returning to Ogun State,” a source reportedly said.
Like Osun and Benue incidents, the murder of the first daughter of former Deputy Governor of Ondo State, Khadijat Olubiyo, made headlines in 2018.
Khadijat, a final year student of Adekunle Ajasin University in Akungba Akoko (AAUA) was allegedly strangled to death by her boyfriend, Seidu Adeyemi, who was said to have buried her remains in a shallow grave in his room in Okearo area of Akure, the state capital, covered it with the rug and slept on the grave for five days.
In 2019, one Abosede Adeyemi Iyanda was gruesomely murdered by her former boyfriend, Segun Olaniyi, who dismembered her and used her body parts for money-making rituals.
As the story goes, Olaniyi, 42, was Abosede’s ex-lover, who promised to help her with some money but instead hatched a plan to use her for money rituals.
Olaniyi called one Akanbi Babalola and Ayo Adeleye on the phone to come and do the slaughtering of the woman who was formerly his girlfriend but now married to another man when she visited him in his offshore office.
While in his office, Olaniyi told Adeleye to go and buy food for the woman, who they said felt very tired after walking a long distance to get there. Segun then put in the food a drug that would make her feel weak and sleepy.
Olaniyi later told her to go to the stream beside his office and wash her hair while she was completely naked. He asked Adeleye and Akanbi to lead her there.
But while Abosede was washing her hair, Adeleye pushed her head into the river, brought out a pocket knife and killed her. Both of them then pulled her body out from the river and dismembered it, separating the flesh from the bones as instructed by Olaniyi.
They later cut the flesh into pieces and sold them to some herbalists, alfas and a pastor who needed them for money rituals. Some of them also allegedly roasted the meat and ate it, washing it down with hot drinks.
Police said that Olaniyi was tracked and arrested, and his arrest led to the recovery of Abosede’s body parts from different Ogun villages where he buried or sold her mutilated remains.
Other suspects arrested in connection with Abosede’s murder include Adeifa Sogbeyinde (37), Rasaq Rasaq Arabs (27), Sunday Akinyemi (41), Adewole Olwafemi aka Pastor (38), Mustapha Ajibola aka Alfa (31), Mustapha Iliya (30), Shilola Amodu aka Alfa (38), Jamiu Abass (25), Smooth Kazeem aka Alfa (37) and Adesola Oduyemi (56).
Confessing, Olaniyi said: “She called me on the phone saying that she was coming to see me. I asked her the reason for her visit and she said she wanted financial assistance to boost her business.
“I called Akanbi, who is my helping hand, and told him to come around because someone would be visiting us. Already, we had work at hand, so Akanbi suggested that we use her for the work.
“We killed her beside my house. I took the head, two hands and part of the meat. I sold the head to Africa for N40,000. I sold one of the hands to an orthodox doctor named Murideen for N15,000 and the other hand to Tonight for N15,000. I sold the flesh to one Alfa named Sunday Akinyemi (N10,000), Rasaq (N5,000) and Mustafa (N5,000).
“It was Ajibola that introduced Mustapha Iliya to me. I used part of the flesh to do powdered medicine which if taken with a hot drink would draw customers.
“At times, we kill the husbands of some of our customers to turn them into widows so that they would join us in bringing victims to be slaughtered.”
His confession led the IRT detectives to Abeokuta and different Ogun villages like Ifo, Itori, Papalanto and Adigbe, where eleven suspects were arrested and eight of them confessed to the kidnapping, killing and selling of the body parts of the victim.
Among the items recovered by IRT operatives were decomposed human breasts, burnt human flesh mixed with liquid substance in a bottle and calabash, one complete human foot, pieces of dry human skull, a Laura SUV with registration number KTU801FP, one Bajaj Boxer motorcycle with Registration number JGB019VC, one unregistered Toyota Corolla and one Toyota Matrix with Registration number AKD703FU.
Other recent cases
It will be recalled that in June 2020, a 39-year-old man, Chris Ndukwe, committed suicide in Lagos after killing his 25-year-old girlfriend, Olamide Alli.
Police said that Ndukwe and Alli were found dead at the former’s residence at Road 5, House 16A, Victory Point Estate, Ilasan, Lagos, after a tip-off to officers of Ilasan Police Station.
A statement issued by the then police spokesman, Bala Elkana, said: “The woman was found lying in a pool of blood, with deep cuts on her head, while the man’s mouth was foaming with whitish substance.
“It was alleged that the man stabbed the woman to death with a kitchen knife and thereafter drank some poisonous substances suspected to be insecticides.
“Two blood-stained kitchen knives, two empty bottles of the poisonous substances, three empty cans of Red Bull energy drink and a plier were recovered from the scene.”
Elkana added that family members of the deceased lovers revealed that they were not married but had a relationship for over seven years, adding that they had two boys, aged seven and three.
He said: “Their relationship is described as complicated, as the couples were on and off over the years. While the man lives at Victory Point Estate Ibadan, the woman lives at Ogba (Lagos).
“The woman was said to have visited the man alongside her 22-year-old sister a night before the incident, on his invitation.
He said that Alli’s sister was the first to have noticed that they were both dead and raised the alarm.
Elkana added: “In her (Alli’s sister) statement, she was woken up by a loud music from the room where the corpses were found, as herself and the kids slept in a different room.”
On July 21, 2012, a postgraduate student of Nasarawa State University, Cynthia Osokogu, then 25 years old, was lured from Abuja to Lagos by Okwumo Nwabufo, who she had met and befriended on Facebook.
Nwabufo had paid for the deceased’s flight ticket from Abuja and lodged her in Room C1 at Cosmilla Hotel, Lake View Estate, Festac Town, Lagos, where he later connived with one Olisaeloka Ezike, and murdered the young lady.
The duo drugged Cynthia by putting Rohypnol in her drink after which they tied her hands and legs and also gagged her mouth with a handkerchief and part of her hair weave on.
Cynthia’s killers thereafter stole her two Blackberry mobile phones, jewellery, sex toy vibrator, passport and a pair of shoes.
In December 2019, a 23-year old man, Adeeko Owolabi, reportedly connived with a 42-year-old self-acclaimed pastor of a white garment church, Segun Philip, to murder his girlfriend and final year Sociology student at the Lagos State University, Favour Daley-Oladele.
According to the spokesman of Ogun State Police Command, Owolabi, who was arrested in Ikoyi-Ile area of Osun State, confessed that he used his girlfriend to prepare a ritual meal for himself and his own mother who he claimed had been broke.
According to Oyeyemi, “the deceased was reported to have left home to an unknown destination since the 8th of December, 2019 and had not been seen since then; hence, she was reported missing by her parents at Mowe Police Station.
“Upon the report, the DPO Mowe Division, SP Marvis Jayeola, detailed his crack detectives to unravel the mystery behind the sudden disappearance of the 22-year-old woman.
Warning: the following article contains graphic details, the reader may find the article shocking.
The following article from Eric Naki, the Political Eitor of The Citizen, a South African online news magazine, contains several frank observations which are worth specifically mentioning here.
First, Naki, citing an expert on ritual murders, Dr Alunamutwe Rannditsheni, from Limpopo province, tells us that ritual murders are a worldwide phenomenon, occurring not only in Africa or Sub-Saharan Africa. I am very happy with this expert-observation even though it results in mixed feelings because of its sad contents. I have also mentioned it in my introduction to this website on ritual killing, witchcraft and superstition in African countries (‘Why publish this site‘).
Secondly, reportedly, kidnappings, human trafficking, and ritual murders, often referred to as ‘muti murders’, are well-known crimes in nearly all 16 member-states of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). This is shocking. The combined population living in the 16 SADC-countries totals about 300 million people.
Lastly, the well-informed author confirms the ghastly details of the way muti murders are committed. Organs or other body parts are extracted live from the poor and helpless victims, not seldom children. The reality is sometimes too hard to describe and too revolting to imagine.
Ritual murders, human trafficking, kidnappings, and associated fear and torture are a plague in many African countries and must stop immediately. To the governments which have a sacred obligation to protect their citizens I would say: ‘If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.’ (webmaster FVDK).
Muti murders: ‘Genitals only work if cut from live victims’
Published: May 20, 2021 By: The Citizen, South Africa – Eric Naki
Victims were lured with promises of jobs, but when they arrived at the destination, they would be abducted and taken away to have their body parts cut off.
An expert on ritual murders, Dr Alunamutwe Rannditsheni, from Limpopo, said ritual killings were a worldwide phenomenon and not only an African problem.
Almost all of the SADC countries experienced ritual killing-related kidnappings and human trafficking.
A 2008 investigation by the Human Rights League in Mozambique found such murders were rife in the country. It found people were trafficked between countries with the purpose to remove parts to be trafficked separately.
The league, which interviewed survivors, eye-witnesses, families of victims and civil society in Mozambique and South Africa, found body parts were forcibly removed from children and adults, causing death or severe disability.
“Throughout the report, informants share personal experiences, which confirm that body parts are taken across the border between South Africa and Mozambique.”
A custom’s official in Sofala province, Mozambique, said: “They say the treatments with genital organs only work if they are taken from a person alive.”
In some instances in Mozambique, victims were beheaded before the parts were removed.
“The murderer cut her throat like she was a goat. He cut her head just like that and removed her genital organs, leaving all the rest,” the report quoted a police officer at Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique as saying.
In another case, a female stall holder at Ressano Garcia on the border with South Africa was fingered for ritual murders.
“The police searched and found that she was carrying genital organs of adult men … I don’t know how many exactly, it was several. But they were from adult men, I saw them myself,” an officer said.
Cases of muti killings were also reported in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, Malawi and Tanzania. People living with albinism were the main targets in Tanzania.
Community leader and businessman Phumudzo Mukhwati alleged the ritual murder gangs had spread to provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, North West and Gauteng.
Victims were lured with promises of jobs, but when they arrived at the destination, they would be abducted and taken away to have their body parts cut off in Limpopo or a neighbouring country.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) comprises 16 Member States: Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Ritual murders, human sacrifices, money rituals, they recently resulted in the enactment of a law by the Ugandan parliament introducing the capital punishment for convicted perpetrators of these heinous crimes. Meanwhile reports on these atrocities continue to dominate the local news. It is again a shocking story.
In Jiira Village in Bbaale Sub-county, Kayunga District, a father allegedly killed his two young children (7 and 3 years old) for ‘money ritual’. The police had to intervene to prevent a crowd from attacking the 46-year old man and lynching him.
Kayunga District has a bad reputation for human sacrifice. In 2018, a witchdoctor was arrested with five bodies at his shrine. See for more details the second article below which also contains more child-sacrifice murder cases including one involving businessman Godfrey Kato Kajubi who was found guilty of murdering a 12-year-old boy for ritualistic purposes in October 2008.
Warning: some readers may find the following articles disturbing (webmaster FVDK).
Father arrested for allegedly killing his two children for money ritual
Published: May 16, 2021 By: The Street Journal – Jenny Ese Obukohwo
A 46-year-old man, Musilumu Mbwire, has been arrested for allegedly killing his two children for money ritual at Jiira Village in Bbaale Sub-county, Kayunga District, Uganda, Daily Monitor reports. (See below – webmaster FVDK)
The body of one of the two children, Latif Kamulasi, 7, was exhumed by police pathologists on Tuesday, May 13, but that of his sibling, 3-year-old Sahum Baizambona, could not be located after a long search.
The police say the father confessed to having slit his children’s throats after his employer asked for their blood promising to pay him Shs4 million and a commercial building at Bbaale trading centre.
“My boss promised me Shs4m and a house if I sacrificed my children and gave him the blood, but he has so far paid me Shs100,000,” the police quoted Mr Mbwire to have said.
His employer, however, has denied any involvement in the shocking killing. Both men are in custody at Kayunga Central Police Station to assist police with investigations into the outrageous deed.
The police say producing the suspects in court to be charged, has been delayed by public holidays for President Museveni’s swearing-in on Wednesday and Idd-ul-Fitr on Thursday.
Spokesperson of the Criminal Investigations Directorate spokesperson, Mr. Charles Twine, said during a media briefing two weeks ago, the suspect’s brother, Mr. Simon Kibubu, who lives in the same area, said he got concerned when he discovered that two of Mbwire’s children were missing.
“When Mr Kibubu asked his brother where the children were, he claimed he had taken them to their sister, Mary Kantono, who lives in the same parish,” Mr Twine said.
But when Mr. Kabubu asked Ms. Kantono about the children’s whereabouts, she said she was unaware. This prompted Mr. Kibubu to notify the area defense secretary, Mr. Asuman Bagala, and lodge a complaint with the police at Bbaale. The police then promptly arrested Mbwire.
Mr Twine and his team combed the bushes in Jjiira Village as the children’s father walked them from one spot to another to locate his children’s remains.
Three locations that Mr Mbwire had pointed out as burial spots turned out false, enraging more the charged crowd and police investigators. The crowd, among whom were relatives and residents, hurled insults and curses at the father.
Mr Mbwire then led the group to a site where they had burnt charcoal several months ago. There he was given a hoe and dug out lumps of damp and loosened soil with the help of some area residents.
More scoops yielded the decomposed body as tears rolled down the cheeks of some of the bystanders, who demanded the police surrender the suspect to them.
But the police quickly stepped in to shield Mr Mbwire from attack, but handed him gloves which he wore to scoop out the body of his son. Mr Twine said the suspect told them he buried Kamulasi in late March.
After exhuming the first body, the suspect led them to a forest where he said he had buried the second child, Baizambona. But the police failed to locate the body after digging up at several sites he had led them to. At 7pm, the police called off the search and promised to return later.
Mr Twine said they would resume the search this week and castigated people who look for wealth through human sacrifice.
“Wealth is gotten through hard work, not human sacrifice,” he warned.
The body of Kamulasi was taken to Mulago national referral hospital for a post-mortem as scene-of-crime officers and other detectives continue to gather more evidence.
Police said they plan to submit the case file to the resident state attorney soon for a decision on whether the preferred charge of murder against the suspects is sustainable.
The suspects are bundled onto a police pick-up truck after they were arrested on May 12 . PHOTO/ FRED MUZAALE
Published: May 15, 2021 By: Daily Monitor, Uganda – Fred Muzaale
Jiira Village in Bbaale Sub-county, Kayunga District, was on Tuesday engulfed in grief as police dug up the body of one of two children allegedly killed by their father in a suspected ritual sacrifice.
The residents, especially women, yelled and wailed as police pathologists exhumed the decomposed body of Latif Kamulasi, 7. The body of his sibling, 3-year-old Sahum Baizambona, could not be located, even after a long search.
The police say the children’s father, Musilumu Mbwire, 46, confessed to have slit the throats of his two children after his employer asked for their blood on promise for Shs4 million payment.
A police detective knowledgeable about the inquiries said the suspect, during investigations, said he was promised a commercial building at Bbaale Trading Centre. But his employer has denied any involvement in the shocking killing.
By press time, both men were in custody at Kayunga Central Police Station to assist police with investigations into the outrageous deed. The police say producing the suspects in court to be charged has been delayed by public holidays for President Museveni’s swearing-in on Wednesday and Idd-ul-Fitr on Thursday.
The grim incident comes only days after Parliament passed a law that criminalises human sacrifice. The Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice legislation, introduced by Ayivu County MP Bernard Atiku, was enacted by Parliament last week and only awaits President Museveni’s approval to provide a death sentence as the highest penalty for any person convicted of the offence.
Amid a downpour, a team of police doctors led by Mr Charles Twine, the Criminal Investigations Directorate spokesperson, combed the bushes in Jjiira Village as the children’s father walked them from one spot to another to locate his children’s remains.
Three locations that Mr Mbwire had pointed out as burial spots turned out false, enraging more the charged crowd and police investigators. The crowd, among whom were relatives and residents, hurled insults and curses at the father. Mr Mbwire then led the group to a site where they had burnt charcoal several months ago.
Here, he was given a hoe and dug out lumps of damp and loosened soil with the help of some area residents. Soon, a blanket in which he wrapped Kamulasi’s body popped out, driving up emotions as the crowd surged forward, threatening to lynch Mr Mbwire. More scoops yielded the decomposed body as tears rolled down the cheeks of some of the bystanders, who demanded the police surrender the suspect to them.
But the police quickly stepped in to shield Mr Mbwire from attack, but handed him gloves which he wore to scoop out the body of his 7-year-old son, whom the police said he had confessed to killing and secretly burying in March.
As he pulled out the remains from the shallow grave, some of the body parts dropped off as a horrid stench blew over the area. The residents went wild as they surged to grab Mr Mbwire, but others were overwhelmed and broke down, crying uncontrollably. Mr Twine said the suspect told them he buried Kamulasi late March. After exhuming the first body, the suspect led them to a forest where he said he had buried the second child, Baizambona. But the police failed to locate the body after digging up at several sites he had led them to.
As darkness fell at 7pm, the police called off the search and promised to return later this week.
Discovery During a media briefing two weeks ago, Mr Twine said Mr Mbwire’s brother, Mr Simon Kibubu, who lives in the same area, got concerned when he discovered that two of Mbwire’s children were missing.
“When Mr Kibubu asked his brother where the children were, he claimed he had taken them to their sister, Mary Kantono, who lives in the same parish,” Mr Twine said.
But when Mr Kabubu asked Ms Kantono about the children’s whereabouts, she said she was unaware. This prompted Mr Kibubu to notify the area defence secretary, Mr Asuman Bagala, and lodge a complaint with the police at Bbaale.
The police then promptly arrested Mbwire, who they said told detectives that he had sacrificed his children for self-enrichment. “My boss promised me Shs4m and a house if I sacrificed my children and gave him the blood, but he has so far paid me Shs100,000,” the police quoted Mr Mbwire to have said.
Mr Twine said they would resume the search this week and castigated people who look for wealth through human sacrifice. “Wealth is gotten through hard work, not human sacrifice,” he warned.
The retrieved body of Kamulasi was taken to Mulago National Referral Hospital for a post-mortem as scene-of-crime officers and other detectives continue to gather more evidence.
Police said they plan to submit the case file to the resident state attorney soon for a decision on whether the preferred charge of murder against the suspects is sustainable.
Kayunga District has a notorious reputation for human sacrifice. In 2018, a witchdoctor was arrested with five bodies at his shrine.
Background- Police report The recent police crime report for 2020 shows that 4.7 per cent of the cases reported in 2020 were a result of child-related offences, with 9,225 cases of children/juveniles as direct targets/victims of crime, compared to 10,596 cases reported in 2019
Other cases In 2016, Times Ssemakula was arrested by police at Old Kampala Police Station on charges of sacrificing his own two children. A case vide SD38/23/10/2016 was entered in the police station book.
In 2008, Businessman Godfrey Kato Kajubi was convicted for the murder and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Masaka High Court Judge Justice Mike Chibita found Kajubi guilty of murdering 12-year-old Joseph Kasirye in October 2008.
Businessman Godfrey Kato Kajubi (right) consults with his lawyer during the hearing of his appeal case at the Supreme Court early this year. PHOTO/JULIE KIGONGO
Prosecution told court that Kajubi committed the crime on October 27, 2008 when he hired witchdoctors Umar Kateregga and his wife Mariam Nabukeera to kill Kasirye, a pupil of Kayugi Primary School in Mukungwe Sub-county in Masaka District, for ritual purposes. According to the prosecution, Kajubi cut off Kasirye’s head and genitals and disappeared with them to be used in his real estate businesses in Kampala, Jinja and Masaka.
In April, police in Kiboga arrested parents of a three-year-old child following the killing of the juvenile in a suspected child-sacrifice ritual. Preliminary investigations indicated that the child had left home to play with the neighbours’ children.
The police sniffer dog led detectives to the first scene where the clothes of the missing child were recovered soaked in blood. Also recovered at the same place was a body part suspected to be a lower lip chin of the victim.
The sniffer dog further led the detectives to another scene at Kanoga swamp where a mutilated body of the victim was recovered. Other body parts of the child had been cut off from the deceased’s body by the assailants and were visibly missing.
Recently, Ghana was shocked by the Kasoa ritual murder case. It’s not common knowledge that ritual murders are no exception in Ghanaian society. Also belief in witchcraft is widespread in this West African country which nevertheless has a very positive reputation as one of Africa’s most advanced countries, rapidly developing.
The lynching of Akua Denteh, a 90-year old woman in the Savannah region, in central Ghana, who was accused of being a witch caused national-wide outrage. It happened at Kafaba near Salaga in the East Gonja Municipality of the Savannah region, on July 23, 2020. After a local priestess, Sherina Mohammed alias Alhajia Filina (40), had accused the nonagenarian of witchcraft, a mob attacked the old, frail woman. Two women slapped, kicked and caned her with a whip, the horror was filmed by by-standers who did not intervene to stop the insane and atrocious cruelty which led to the death of this mother of nine children. The horror-movie was widespread on social media, but I find the video too gruesome and repulsive to show here.
And now, in 2020, the cruel and inhumane treatment of people – mostly women and children but also men are occasionally targeted – accused of witchcraft has resulted in yet another innocent victim of superstition. Will it end here?
The police acted swiftly and apprehended the priestess as well as the culprits who tortured and murdered Akua Denteh. However, the recent Kasoa murder case shows that superstition has far from vanished from Ghanaian society. The war against superstition, belief in witchcraft and ritualistic killings is far from over. (webmaster FVDK)
Lynching of 90-year-old Ghanaian woman suspected of witchcraft scars national conscience
Published: July 28, 2020 By: Face2Face – Nii Ntreh | Associate Editor
A 90-year-old Ghanaian woman in the north of the country was lynched to death last week by a mob who had been convinced that frail and diminutive Akua Denteh was a witch.
According to local sources, Denteh was accused by a popular traditional priestess in the Savannah region of the country, who traced the misery and misfortune of a few people as well as the community to the nonagenarian. This followed a long-held suspicion by some youth in the community.
The ensuing mob justice after the priestess’ confirmation was as swift as it was merciless.
A viral video of the lynching shows a small crowd that had circled the helpless old woman as she sat in the dirt. In the middle of the circle, those who were perhaps more incensed with Denteh’s alleged witchery – two visibly irate women in particular – beat her up, one of them, with a whip.
The video is only forty-five seconds long and does not include footage of what has been reported as the commitment of more people to beat Denteh up. But since the video came to light and drew the response of the police, many of the onlookers as well as those seen assaulting the old woman, have reportedly fled into hiding.
Ghana‘s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, has called the incident a “tragic act” that has “disfigured” the country’s image. A former head of state Jerry Rawlings has also called for a quick resolution to a “cruel and barbaric lynching”.
Social media platforms too, Facebook and Twitter specifically, have been awash with statements from individuals and organizations condemning Denteh’s murder. But perhaps, the sentiments of civil society, however well-intentioned, are at best, anodynic and polite.
A 2015 Global Attitudes Survey by the Pew Research Center found that about 90% of Ghanaians described themselves as religious, belonging to the Christianity, Islam, variants of the Eastern religions or traditional African faiths. But the belief in witchcraft, not argued by the Pew survey, is very rife regardless of one’s faith.
The pervasiveness of belief in witchcraft in Ghana can be seen through the popularity of the biggest movies produced by the country’s hugely-successful Kumawood (Kumasi Hollywood) industry. Since the 1980s too, Ghana has witnessed the astronomic proliferation of evangelical churches that market themselves as “solution centers” to spiritual problems.
Some of these churches are referred to as prayer camps where people are supposed to be delivered of demonic possessions. Apart from churches, some animistic believers in northern Ghana, not far from where Denteh was murdered, have witch camps, where older women are held on accusations of witchcraft, sometimes until their death.
The most famous of these camps, the Gambaga witch camp, has been studied by social scientists across the world.
However, much in the fashion of the Comtean sociological perspective, many educated Ghanaians seem to think that belief in witchcraft and hardcore spirituality is in the nature of the uneducated poor.
With what is already known about Ghanaian society, the lynching of Denteh seems like the ugly manifestation of serious neglected underlying tensions.
The police have mounted a search for one Tanko and his accomplices who allegedly masterminded the lynching of a 90-year-old woman at Kafaba near Salaga in the Savannah Region on the accusation that she was a witch.
The incident happened on Thursday, July 23, 2020 in the East Gonja Municipality.
The old woman whose body has since been deposited at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) mortuary has been identified as Akua Denteh.
The Savannah Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), Mr Enoch Adutwum Bediako told Graphic Online that some more police officers have been detailed to the area to effect the arrest of the suspects who subjected the victim to severe beatings which led to her death.
What happened?
DCOP Bediako told Graphic Online that at about 4pm on Thursday, July 23, 2020, Mahama Salami aged 60 years of Mempeasem, a suburb of Salaga reported to the police that he had received information at 11 am from his sister, Mahama Memuna that his mother, Akua Denteh aged 90 had been accused of being a witch.
This was because a certain fetish priest in the area had said so.
DCOP Bediako said based on that the old woman was subjected to severe beatings by Tanko and his accomplices until she became unconscious and died.
He said when the matter was reported to the Salaga Police they proceeded to the scene at Kafaba, which is about 21 kilometres from Salaga and saw the lifeless body of the victim.
He said an inspection conducted on the body of the victim revealed a cut on the forehead and bruises on the right arm.
After processing the scene as part of investigations, the body was sent to the TTH mortuary for preservation.
DCOP Bediako said the police are on the heels of those who perpetrated the act for the law to deal with them.
The issue of witchcraft allegations, especially against old women are widespread in the northern part of Ghana.
Kafaba ‘Witch’ Killer Grabbed After Trying To Escape To Yeji
KILLED! Akua Denteh, The 90-year-old woman being assaulted by the suspects, GRABBED! Latifah Bumaye
Published: August 1, 2020 By: Modern Ghana –
A key suspect in the lynching of Akua Denteh, a 90-year-old woman, over allegation of witchcraft at Kafaba in the Gonja East Municipality of the Savannah Region, has been grabbed by the police after she tried to escape from the area.
Latifah Bumaye, believed to be an associate of the ringleader, Hajia Filipina, was picked up at Kejewu Bator, a fishing community under the Abrumase Police within the Salaga Division at East Gonja, while going to Yeji.
According to police sources, they heard about the hideout of the suspect and dispatched detectives to Kejewu Bator where she was picked up and escorted back to the Salaga Divisional Command.
DAILY GUIDE understands that she is being processed to be sent to the Regional Police Command in Damongo for further action.
The suspect is believed to be one of the two ladies seen in the viral video lynching the 90-year-old woman because they claimed she was a witch.
She is believed to be the woman in the video menacingly whipping the old lady with a long whip which she brandished. Meanwhile, the chief suspect, Filipina, is yet to be apprehended.
More Suspects
Five people, who are believed to have participated in the lynching which has since sparked national outrage, have been remanded in police custody by a district court at Bole.
They pleaded not guilty and the court, presided over by Andrew Prince Cudjoe, remanded them until August 20.
The suspects – Haruna Aness, 34; Issaka Tanko, 35; Shaibu Murtala, 29; Sulemana Ali, 35; and Issaka Sachebu, 32, have been charged with conspiracy and murder.
The Chief of Kafaba, Seidu Yahaya, under whose jurisdiction the incident occurred, has also been granted police inquiry bail.
The police placed a GH¢2,000 reward for anybody that would help in the arrest of the suspects; and yesterday, a benevolent individual placed a GH¢5,000 reward for anybody who could assist the police to arrest Filipina.
Kafaba: Bole District Court Remands Woman ‘Killer’
Published: August 3, 2020 By: Modern Ghana
The accused person was provisionally charged with murder.
The case prosecutor, chief inspector Abdulai B. Awuni, pleaded with the court to remand the accused person for further investigation.
The judge granted the request of the police prosecutor and demanded the accused be remanded into police custody to reappear in court on August 20, 2020.
The charge was read and explained to the accused person but her plea was not taken.
More Suspects
Five people, who are believed to have participated in the lynching which has since sparked national outrage, have been remanded in police custody by a district court at Bole.
They pleaded not guilty and the court, presided over by Andrew Prince Cudjoe, remanded them until August 20.
The suspects – Haruna Aness, 34; Issaka Tanko, 35; Shaibu Murtala, 29; Sulemana Ali, 35; and Issaka Sachebu, 32, have been charged with conspiracy and murder.
The Chief of Kafaba, Seidu Yahaya, under whose jurisdiction the incident occurred, has also been granted police inquiry bail.
The police placed a GH¢2,000 reward for anybody that would help in the arrest of the suspects; and yesterday, a benevolent individual placed a GH¢5,000 reward for anybody who could assist the police to arrest Filipina.
Madam Akua Denteh was lynched at Kafaba in the East Gonja Municipality in the Savannah Region.
The woman was openly beaten to death by Hajia Filipina,the soothsayer with support from a mob in the community.
The main suspect, Hajia Filipina, as at the time of filing this report was still on the run.
Kafaba Killing: Woman ‘Killer’ To Face Court Today
Published: August 3, 2020 By: Modern Ghana
One of the key suspects in the lynching of 90-year-old Akua Denteh at Kafaba will be arraigned today, August 3.
Latifah Bumaye was arrested last week at Kejewu Bator, a fishing community along the Volta lake.
She was seen in a viral video continuously hitting the deceased with an object.
The deceased, Akua Denteh a fortnight ago was tortured after she was accused of being a witch.
The Savannah Regional Police earlier arrested five persons who are also linked to the incident.
They have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and have been remanded in police custody to reappear before the court on August 20.
Speaking to Citi News, Savannah Regional Police Commander, DCOP Enoch Adutwum Bediako said investigations are still ongoing.
“She was arrested on Monday at Kejewu, a small community along the Volta lake. All she keeps saying is that she doesn’t know what was happening to her. Our investigations are still ongoing but we will put her before court today to seek remand as investigations continue. She has not been able to tell us where the priestess (another suspect) is.”
Five suspects charged with conspiracy to commit murder
Earlier, five suspects arrested by the Police in connection with the lynching of Akua Denteh have been formally charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
They are however currently on remand in police custody after making their first appearance in court on Thursday, July 30.
Kafaba chief granted bail
Meanwhile, the Kafaba chief, Zackaria Yahaya who was earlier arrested has been granted bail.
According to the police, the five other suspects in their statements indicated that the chief did not play any role in the development as he even asked them to send the priestess away when they went to introduce her to him before the lynching incident.
“The youth did not agree with the chief and went on to do what they did and this unfortunate thing happened… All the five said the chief didn’t agree with what they were doing and therefore he was not part of what they were doing. Based on that, we have to grant the chief bail pending further investigations…He spent the night there because we got the suspects the following day,” DCOP Bediako said.
Kafaba Lynching: I Was Possessed – Woman ‘Killer’ Reveals In Court
Published: August 3, 2020 By: Modern Ghana
A key suspect in the lynching of Akua Denteh, a 90-year-old woman at Kafaba in the East Gonja Municipality of the Savannah Region, over allegation of witchcraft, has spoken for the first time since her arrest last Friday.
Latifa Bumaye, 33, claimed she was ‘possessed’ and did not realize she was participating in the lynching of Akua Denteh.
She claimed she went to wash her clothes at the river bank with her sister when the spirit entered her, adding “I saw the incident on television and I wondered if I was really the one who tortured her like that.”
Besides, she claimed that the woman who had passed on is her grandmother, a position rejected by the family of Akua Denteh.
Latifah believed to be an associate of the ringleader, Hajia Filipina, was picked up at Kejewu Bator, a fishing community under Abrumase Police Station within the Salaga Division in the East Gonja, whilst going to Yeji on Friday.
She is believed to be the woman in the video menacingly whipping the old lady with a long whip. Meanwhile, the chief suspect, Hajia Filipina, is yet to be apprehended.
According to sources, Latifa is expected to be sent to the Regional Police Command in Damongo to be processed for court on Monday.
More Suspects
Five people, who are believed to have participated in the lynching which has since sparked national outrage, have been remanded in police custody by a district court at Bole.
They pleaded not guilty and the court, presided over by Andrew Prince Cudjoe, remanded them until August 20.
The suspects – Haruna Aness, 34; Issaka Tanko, 35; Shaibu Murtala, 29; Sulemana Ali, 35; and Issaka Sachebu, 32, – have been charged with conspiracy and murder.
The Chief of Kafaba, Seidu Yahaya, under whose jurisdiction the incident occurred, had also been granted police inquiry bail.
The police placed a GH¢2,000 reward for anybody that would help in the arrest of the suspects and also a benevolent individual placed a GH¢5,000 reward for anybody who could assist the police to arrest Filipina.
According to police sources, they heard about the hideout of the suspect and dispatched detectives to Kejewu Bator where she was picked up and escorted back to the Salaga Divisional Command.
DAILY GUIDE understands that she is being processed to be sent to the Regional Police Command in Damongo for further action.
Police arrest priestess in Kafaba lynching of 90-year-old
Published: August 4, 2020 By: Ghana News Agency (GNA)
Accra, Aug. 4, GNA – The Ghana Police Tuesday said they have arrested the fetish priestess who allegedly accused Madam Akua Denteh of Kafaba, in the Savannah Region, of witchcraft, resulting in the lynching of the 90-year-old.
Superintendent Sheilla Kessie Abayie-Buckman, Director, Police Public Affairs Directorate, said Sherina Mohammed alias Alhajia Filina, 40, was arrested on Monday, August 3, 2020, at her hide-out at Yeji.
Superintendent Abayie-Buckman on the Ghana Police Facebook platform said, the suspect was, consequently, in Police custody assisting with investigations.
Hajia Filina is said to be among some other persons identified as Sanjo, Teacher Aliu, Bumaye, Ashley and Manafo, who allegedly beat the nonagenarian on Thursday, July 23, resulting in her unconsciousness and death later.
They have already arrested five more persons who allegedly admitted to having invited the priestess to Kafaba where the incident occurred.
They are Haruna Aness – 34, Issifa Tanko- 35, Shaibu Muntala – 29, Sulemana Ali -35 and Issifa Zakyibo -32.
Their action has attracted nationwide condemnation and calls for swift justice and punishment of the perpetrators.
The police in the Savannah Region initially arrested the chief of Kafaba, Zackaria Yahaya, for his alleged role in the incident.
They have been arrested to face prosecution.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who described the action as “barbaric” also called for action and justice to be served.
A few days after the incident, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr James Oppong-Boanuh, dispatched homicide experts to the Savannah Region to hunt for the murderers.
The IGP also placed a GH¢ 2,000.00 bounty on their heads, adding that any person with credible information should either contact the Savannah Police or call 0275000156.
Sanjo was said to have hosted Hajia Filina, the priestess who declared the victim, a witch.
High priestess involved in murder of 90-year-old woman to appear in court on August 5
The priestess (soothsayer), Sherina Mohammed alias Alhajia, aged 40, was arrested at her hideout at Yeji in the Bono East region by police in Salaga.
Published: August 5, 2020 (Last Updated on August 9, 2020) By: MyGH.Online
The Savannah Regional police command says the Priestess (Soothsayer), in the Kafaba murder case, will appear in court on Wednesday, August 5, 2020.
This was after Sherina Mohammed alias Alhajia, aged 40, was arrested at her hideout at Yeji in the Bono East region by police in Salaga.
Her arrest brings the number of suspects in police custody to seven with the exception of the Kafaba chief, Zackaria Yahaya who is currently on bail.
JoyNews’ Isaac Nonya who has been following the incident reports that the police had earlier sent the suspect to Salaga to be interrogated before being brought to Damongo.
According to sources, the alleged priestess had also admitted being the one in the video which went viral.
On July 23, 90-year-old, Akua Denteh was seen being slapped, kicked and caned after the traditional priestess accused her of being a witch.
The severe beating the woman was subjected to by her accuser and two other women resulted in her death.
After the video went viral, there was massive outrage with many demanding the immediate arrest and prosecution of all the perpetrators.
From the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, to various civil society groups, the security services have been urged to fish out the culprits who went into hiding after the act.
On Monday, the first key suspect in the lynching was arrested and remanded by the Bole Magistrate Court.
Latifa Bumaye, 25, was smoked out of her hideout at Kejewu Botor a suburb of the East Gonja Municipality, following continuous surveillance by the Homicide Unit of the Ghana Police Service.
Kafaba killing: Son Shares Unfulfilled Wish Of Murdered 90-Year-Old Woman
Published: August 1, 2020 By: Modern Ghana
The last son of the 90 year-old woman who was beaten to death at Kafaba has shared her last unfulfilled wish saying “My mother’s last wish was to see my children before she will pass away.”
Mr Mahama Saaka, who is 36-years-old and teacher at Salaga T.I Ahmadiyya Senior High School, who recounted this, said he was yet to have a child and unfortunately his mother had to die this way without seeing his children.
He recounted this when the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited the family of the murdered old woman at Salaga in the East Gonja Municipality of the Savannah Region to gauge their mood after the sad incident.
Madam Akua Mariama Denteh, 90 years-old, was on Thursday, July 23, beaten to death at Kafaba by some residents and a spiritualist, who accused her of witchcraft and behind certain strange happenings in the area including; limiting the progress of the town.
Madam Denteh had nine children, and three died leaving two males and four females, a number of them as teachers and 21 grandchildren.
The spiritualist was brought to the town by some youth of the area to fish out alleged witches in the area, working against the progress of the town.
The spiritualist mentioned Madam Denteh as a witch, which she denied but her denial was not accepted and was subjected to beatings.
The incident was captured on video, and had since gone viral on social media.
The deceased has since been buried.
So far, the Police arrested Yenufunu Yahaya Seidu (V), a Chief at Kafaba, who had been granted police enquiry bail, and six others in connection with the incident.
The incident has attracted condemnation from civil society organisations, politicians, gender and human rights activists across the country.
GNA gathered that, when Madam Denteh was beaten and succumbed to the torture, the spiritualist identified 17 other women in the area as being witches and some of them were also subjected to beatings whilst others, who were connected to powerful people in the area, were spared from beatings.
Mr Saaka said “It had been my greatest desire to fulfil my mother’s wish but I’m shattered now, I don’t know what to do.”
He told the GNA that “Since the incident happened and I took my Mum to the morgue, I have not been myself, I’m sick internally, I can’t even cry. She wanted to see my children before she will pass. That is the promise she gave to me, but the unfortunate incident has crushed everything.”
He said “I don’t believe that my own community; they will do this thing. I’m very, very surprised because I grew up there. We are very sad. We don’t know what to do.”
He called for justice to be served “So that my Mum will be used as an example to protect all other elderly women.”
Mr Mahama Sallam, 60 year-old third child and surviving first son of the deceased, said what happened was unacceptable, attributing it to ignorance saying “We leave everything in the hands of God.”
GNA also visited the spot, where the old woman was beaten at Kafaba, and it was a compound of a house, whose owner had since fled the town.
The road from Salaga to Kafaba is in a deplorable state and it takes about an hour and a half to reach Kafaba from Salaga using a four-wheeled vehicle.
There is no Police Post at Kafaba, which presupposes that unless a good Samaritan in the town intervenes, any unlawful act could be meted out to any citizen in the area.
Yenufunu Yahaya Seidu (V), a Chief at Kafaba, who was arrested and granted bail in connection with the incident, told the GNA at Kafaba that some youth of the area informed him of their decision to invite the spiritualist to fish out witches in the area to ensure the progress of the town.
He said lawless acts in the area could be prevented, if there was a Police Station in the area and appealed for one in the area to ensure law and order.
And hail to the journalist who first reported on the lynching of 90-year old Akua Denteh:
Kafaba Killing Reportage Has Boosted My Popularity – TV3 Journalist
Christopher Mensah Amoako was the first journalist who reported on the gruesome lynching of the 90-year old Akua Denteh.
Published: August 3, 2020 By: Modern Ghana
TV3’s Savannah Regional correspondent Christopher Mensah Amoako has opened up on how he became the only journalist in the country to have first reported on the gruesome Kafaba killing, indicating the reportage has soared his popularity in the region.
Speaking on ‘Talk To Solomon’ (a YouTube based talk show) hosted by journalist and writer Solomon Mensah, Mr. Amoako said: “On that fateful Thursday, July 23, 2020, I was on my way to East Gonja [in the Savannah Region] when I had a video sent to me via WhatsApp. When I downloaded it, I heard them speak both Gonja and Twi so I realised the tape could not be an imported one from any other African country.”
Christopher Amoako said, he did further checks to ascertain the authenticity of the video and after rigorous background checks confirmed it was not fake.
“I quickly called the one who sent me the video not to share with anyone. Then, after about two hours, I also had a call from the son of the deceased telling me about the incident,” he noted.
The Savannah Regional correspondent for the Media General group revealed that he first “harboured fear in breaking the news. But now, that fear has long gone. Today, everywhere I pass, I get people pointing fingers at me that, ‘that’s the journalist who first broke the news to the nation’”.
Christopher Amoako said he together with the people of the Savannah Region and the nation as a whole look forward to a swift justice served by the law courts on the murder.
A 90-year old woman Akua Denteh was lynched on July 23 by a section of the Kafaba community after a soothsayer pronounced her a witch.
The Savannah Regional Police Command has since apprehended some suspects including 32-year old Latifa Bumaye believed to have played a key role in the lynching.
Find below Christopher’s full interview:
To watch and listen the interview, click here and scroll down the page. Picture is a screenshot.
It seems appropriate to start this introduction to the following article with a warning because of its graphic contents. Sorcery accusation-related violence (SARV) is sometimes too gruesome to tell or to read. I’ve read a lot of articles on ritual murders in recent years and ‘ve seen many pictures, yet my stomach was turning when I read the following report on sorcery accusation-related violence. It describes horrible acts of mobs or sometimes individuals which take place not only in Africa or Sub-Saharan Africa, but in countries and regions all over the world. Common characteristics are that people are ill-informed, not or poorly educated, and have limited opportunities and no perspectives for improvement of one’s lives, in combination with a weak rule of law and often a lack of political will, as one well-informed interviewee rightly stated (see below).
The article mentions a few countries in Africa, notably Central African Republic, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, but it does no require much imagination to add other African countries. The belief in witchcraft is widespread on the continent. This is not to say that everybody in Africa believes in witchcraft but the number of superstitious people and people who believe in witchcraft (juju, muti, money rituals) cannot be counted, that’s for sure.
It hurts me deeply to read about sorcery accusation-related violence. The majority of the victims are women and children, notably girls, but sometimes also boys and men are accused of witchcraft and sorcery. On March 20 this year, I posted an article on a gruesome incident which happened in Liberia where a school expelled a K-1 pupil for alleged witchcraft. In July 2020, a 90-year old woman accused of sorcery was lynched by a mob in Ghana. The gruesome torture and killing caused a nationwide outcry. More details in tomorrow’s posting. (webmaster FVDK)
In July 2020, a 90-year-old woman was lynched after a traditional priest accused her of being a witch. The deceased, Akua Denteh was slapped, kicked and caned at Kafaba near Salaga in the East Gonja Municipality of the Savannah Region, Ghana. The picture is a screenshot from the video showing two women assaulting the old lady, a horrific and repulsive scene which is too disgusting to show or to watch (FVDK).
‘Sorcery’ still a motive for torture, killing in 21st century
Published: April 28, 2021 By: CGTN – Sim Sim Wissgott
Two women were attacked and tortured in Papua New Guinea’s capital Port Moresby on Sunday, accused of witchcraft. They were interrogated and burned with hot irons to get them to admit to killing a woman who had died earlier in the week, local media reports said.
One managed to escape and alert the police. But this was not an isolated incident in the Pacific island nation.
Local media reported in February that six women had been accused of sorcery. Police managed to free two women in July after they were held and tortured for four days, accused of killing a villager a week earlier by removing his heart.
Attacks like these are so widespread that Papua New Guinea (PNG) actually has a term and acronym for them: sorcery accusation-related violence, or SARV.
While authorities and politicians regularly condemn these as “barbaric acts” and “uncivilized” behavior, SARV continues.
This type of violence is not limited to PNG either. Accusations of sorcery remain a very real threat in many communities around the world and claim dozens – if not hundreds – of lives every year.
Other sorcery-related killings in recent months have included a 70-year-old man in eastern Jharkhand state who reportedly practiced exorcism and sold herbal medicines; a family of five, accused of black magic after several people in their village fell ill and died; and a middle-aged man who was beheaded “on suspicion of sorcery” in neighboring Odisha state in December.
Another elderly man in Odisha was killed last month after villagers accused him of witchcraft.
“The deceased used to throw ash and some powder in front of the houses of villagers which raised doubts that he was practicing some witchcraft. In a fit of rage, some youths of the village killed him with stone and hammer and fled the spot after dumping his body in the bushes near the canal,” a police officer told local media.
Reports have emerged in recent months from South Africa, Nigeria, and Nepal of people being beaten, tortured or killed on suspicion of witchcraft. Countries like Tanzania and Ghana have also been fighting SARV for years.
There are no definite figures on how many people fall victim to SARV every year around the world. In many cases, the crimes go unreported as victims fear retribution.
The problem is significant enough that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights held an experts’ conference in 2017 to discuss ways “to end harmful practices related to witchcraft.”
There were 372 anti-sorcery attacks reported between 2013 and 2016 in PNG, according to UK charity Oxfam. In India’s Assam state, a dozen are killed every year, according to local media.
Mob mentality
Although men can be targeted, victims of witchcraft-related violence tend overwhelmingly to be women and girls.
As a result, the issue is often paired with women’s rights and gender equality. Victims are generally among the most vulnerable members of the community. Mob mentality, lack of education and poor policing are also contributing factors.
“Sorcery-related violence stems from poor education, lack of awareness, limited opportunities coupled with deteriorating capacity for law and order and a lack of political will,” PNG’s Oro Province Governor Gari Juffa told The Guardian last year.
There have been reports of people accused of being witches after a member of their community fainted, suffered an epileptic fit, or died without warning.
A woman and her daughter were accused of sorcery in PNG earlier this month and were tortured by relatives after the woman’s husband died of COVID-19 .
Attacks are often brutal, with victims hacked to death, maimed, gang-raped, slashed with knives, burned with hot irons or hit with rocks, leaving them horribly scarred – physically and mentally – for life.
Relatives can also be targeted by association: in the case of the family of five killed in Jharkhand state in February, a middle-aged couple was suspected of witchcraft, but their son, daughter-in-law and five-year-old grandson were also murdered.
Children of alleged witches are especially seen as a threat, human rights campaigners say.
The perpetrators rarely act alone but attack their victims in groups: in the latest case on Sunday in PNG, the two women were attacked and tortured by up to 20 men.
Police often say the attackers’ identities are known to them but communities and survivors may be reluctant to come forward and cooperate with law enforcement, meaning many perpetrators get away with their crime.
Taking action
Some progress has been seen. The Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Act was passed in India in 2015, making it a crime to accuse anyone of sorcery.
The Catholic Church’s Pontifical Mission Societies declared last year August 10 as World Day against Witch Hunts.
PNG repealed its 1971 Sorcery Act in 2013, which sanctioned sorcery-related violence. At the same time, it drafted a Sorcery National Action Plan to raise awareness about the issue and find ways to combat it.
The country even has a hotline now for anyone who may be the target of sorcery accusations.
The latest cases however have prompted concerns that sorcery-related violence may be once again spreading. While such cases are usually found in the more remote regions of PNG, last weekend’s attack occurred in the capital.
While action plans and strategies have been drafted, funding and effective implementation are still wanting, local officials say.
The following plea and and cry from Zimbabwe, following the ritual murder of Tapiwa Makore (7), and the two cousins Delan (7) and Melissa (7), is long overdue but 100% warranted. Child sacrifice and more general human sacrifice is not a rare phenomenon in Zimbabwe, neither is it in a number of other countries in Sub-Sahara Africa. The gruesome murders have recently led to a general campaign to stop child sacrifice, the 777 Campaign. It goes without saying that I join this initiative.
Warning: the following article contains graphic details of ritual killing of children (FVDK).
Let us stop child sacrifice
Published: April 27, 2021 By: Bulawayo 24, Heaven Munyuki
The death of a child of any age is devastating. The pain and anguish can be compounded when the death comes at the hands of another human being. Parents and family members can face many complicated issues, even as they try to make sense of the incomprehensible – that someone knowingly, willingly or intentionally killed their child.
Children are gifts from God, they are precious and bundles of joy. Birth of children represent generational continuity and procreation is devine as God commanded: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Mwanachipo Africa Trust is a local NGO that works with people who are infertile and childless. As people who are infertile and childless, we are pained most when these gifts we are failing to get are hurt or ill treated and when they are murdered, our hearts are pierced. We are hurt most because, some of us have undergone unimaginable ordeals and forked huge sums of money in trying to bear children whilst heartless people and cowards, who prey on vulnerable children, are busy chopping off their heads and mutilating their bodies. To us, killing of children for whatever reason is termination of generational continuity and destruction of families instead of growing and expanding them.
The recent surge in ritual killings and murder cases of children in Zimbabwe is not only worrisome but also inhumane and horrifying.The gruesome murder of Tapiwa Makore (7) of Murehwa who was buried without a head and the recent heinous killings of two Benza cousins Delan (7) and Melissa (7) of central Mutasa by uncles should not go unchallenged. These brutal killings have prompted Mwanachipo to initiate the Stop Child Sacrifice:The 777 Campaign.
The 777 Campaign is in honour of the 3 slain innocent children (Tapiwa, Delan and Mellisa) who were all murdered aged 7 and the suspected ritual killers being uncles. Tapiwa was fed with food and later drugged with Kachasu( traditional illicit beer) before being brutally killed in a mountain. His torso was found the following morning being dragged by dogs and his head is nowhere to be found up to this day. Mellisa and Delan’s remains were found stashed in a toilet pit.
These gruesome murders are targeted mainly at children for ritual purposes. Vulnerable, innocent children are mutilated and murdered by ruthless and criminal people who want to increase their wealth, health, power or reputation – by all means. Like Tapiwa, Delan and Mellisa, a lot of children have fallen victim to murderers and ritual killers. Due to their vulnerability, they are easily abducted on their way to or from school or when conducting their daily home activities such as fetching water and collecting firewood. Children are the main victims because they are considered pure or unblemished ,easy to lure and their blood sacrifice is considered more powerful than that of adults as children represent new life, prosperity and growth to the one procuring the sacrifice. They are sacrificed by witch doctors to appease ‘the gods’ and bring a myriad of solutions which include wealth, good health and political power among others.Adults drawn to the practice are tricked into believing that the purity of child makes the ritual more powerful. Hearts, ears, livers and genitals are considered as key ingredients of the rituals.These body parts are said to be removed when children are still alive and they die as a result of bleeding or are killed by the murderers to conceal evidence.
The repeated occurrences of these ritual killings is a blatant violation of UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) of 1989. The CRC applies to all children below the age of 18, and contains 54 articles covering almost all aspects of the life of a child.More so, this child sacrifice violates the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. According to this charter, an individual is entitled to respect for his life and integrity of his person.
Biblically, God sanctified life.This means that human life is sacred ( made in the very image of the Creator himself according to Genesis 1:26-27), holy and precious. The sanctity of life is inherent as man cannot create life. Therefore, man has no authority to destroy life including the life of children. God chooses when life begins and ends and murder in all its forms is forbidden. It is the only way for humankind to exist.
Through the Stop Child Sacrifice: 777 Campaign , Mwanachipo Africa Trust is mobilising resources to be used to prevent sacrifice of children. Our children are not safe until every child is safe. Let us join hands to end child sacrifice. Everyone is duty bound to protect every child.Be part of the change which starts with all of us.Together we can make Zimbabwe a safer country for our children.
The article posted yesterday was about an alleged ritual murder case in Kasoa (formerly knows as Odupongkpehe), in Ghana’s Central Region. Since then, more details have emerged about the crime committed. Warning: some readers may find the following articles and videos disturbing (webmaster FVDK).
Two Kasoa teenagers arrested for murdering a 10-year-old, severing ear for rituals
Picture shows screen shot from the video. To watch video, click here. Viewers discretion is advised.
Published: April 4, 2021 By: GhanaWeb
Two teenagers have been arrested by the Kasoa Divisional Police Command in connection with the murder of a 10-year-old boy in what seems to be a ritual murder.
Reports available to GhanaWeb indicates the police received a distress call on Saturday at about 10:15 am about a homecode incident at Coca-Cola near Lamptey Mills, a suburb of Kasoa in the Central Region.
According to preliminary police investigations, the victim identified as Ishmael was killed by 16-year-old Felix Nyarko and Nicholas Kini, 17.
The teenage suspects are reported to have invited the deceased into an uncompleted building where they hit him with a club and cement blocks, killing him at about 9:30am the same morning.
Police sources say the boys then buried the deceased in the uncompleted building with the hope of coming back for his body in the night for ritual purpose.
Some neighbors however caught wind of their actions and raised an alarm leading to the arrest of the two.
The deceased’s body has since been deposited at the Police Hospital awaiting post-mortem whilst the suspects have been taken into custody.
Some reports claim that the suspects were told by a fetish priest to bring human parts for money rituals hence their actions.
The mother of the victim, Hajia Maame has spoken to Citi News and expressed shock over their son’s demise.
Published: April 4, 2021 By: Yen, Ghana – Jeffrey Mensah
The father of one of the two boys arrested in the Kasoa ‘Sakawa’ murder case has spoken
In a video, the man narrated how he got to know of the incident and arrested one of the suspects
The man’s son and the boy he helped to arrest, both teens, have beenarrested over the murder of a 10-year-old
The father of one of the two boys arrested over the murder of a 10-year-old boy at Kasoa has spoken on the incident. In a video sighted by YEN.com.gh, the boy’s father has narrated how he got to know of the incident and helped to apprehend the other suspect. Two teenagers were arrested on Saturday, April 3, 2021, for the murder of a 10-year-old boy identified as Ishmael.
According to reports in the media, the suspects Felix Nyarko, 18, Nicholas Kini, 19, had killed the boy for money rituals.
They were apprehended by the Kasoa Divisional Police Command following a distress call about a homicide incident in Lamptey Mills.
Speaking to the press about the incident, the father said he was in the house when his son came to tell him that they had buried the boy nearby. He went to dig up up the body and chase after the other suspect because his son had told him he did not partake in the killing.
After apprehending the other boy, he informed other people around and they took the boy to the police station. He explained that his son had told him he only called the victim for the other guy and as a father he wanted to ensure that the truth of the matter came out.
Meanwhile, Hajia Maame, the mother of the 10-year-old boy has recounted how she got to know about her son’s murder.
The bereaved mother disclosed that the elder sister of murdered 10-year-old Ishmael came to break the heart-rending news to her. Speaking in an interview, Hajia Maame told Citi News amid tears that she was shocked by her son’s demise.
The mother of slain 11-year-old Ishmael Mensah, Hajia Maame Sahadatu, has given a narration about how she was informed about her son’s murder
She disclosed that she was taking a nap when her son’s elder sister came to break the news about her brother’s demise
The bereaved mother spoke to Citi News
Hajia Maame Sahadatu, the mother of an 11-year-old boy who was gruesomely killed by two teenagers for rituals in Kasoa in the Central Region, has recounted how she got to know about her son’s murder. The bereaved mother disclosed that the elder sister of slain 11-year-old Ishmael Mensah came to break the heart-rending news to her. Speaking in an interview, Sahadatu told Citi News amid tears that she was shocked by her son’s demise.
”They (Ismael and his sister) go to Islamic school on Saturdays, but he was home because his father had returned from a trip. He was playing a game outside on his laptop while I was taking a nap,” she said.
‘His sister came running to me to tell me his brother had been killed. The police were informed and they came to the scene. My son has wrong no one,” she added. The two suspects behind the killing of the 11-year-old boy at Lamptey Mills in Kasoa, Central Region have been arrested by the Kasoa Divisional Police Command. The teenage boys, 16 and 17 years old respectively, are assisting the police with investigations. Meanwhile, the Kasoa Divisional Police Command are yet to confirm details about the incident and arrests.
The following plea to end ritual killings focuses on children who are targeted in numerous countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Vulnerable, innocent children are mutilated and murdered by ruthless and criminal people who want to increase their wealth, health, power or reputation – by all means. The Nigerian author of this article, which dates from 2016 but could have been written yesterday, OmoTola Omolaya, specifically mentions a number of countries notably Botswana, Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland), Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Liberia, Namibia, Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
I don’t know the author’s reasons to limit himself to aforementioned countries. In each and every African country where ritual murders are committed, also children die at the hands of unscrupulous murderers who very often get away with their ugly crimes.
However, I fully agree with his conclusion: African governments need to act!
Warning: the following article contains graphic details which may shock the reader (webmaster FVDK).
It’s time for Africa to protect its children from the web of ritual killings
Published: February 29, 2016 By: Ventures Africa – Omotola OmoLaya
In 2011, BBC did a documentary on witch craft and ritual killings in Uganda and one of the gory stories was about a three-year old boy found in the outskirts of Uganda lying in a pool of blood. His penis had been cut off by ritualists and he was rushed to the hospital to save his life. While speaking with a BBC correspondent, even though the parents are advocating for the ban of witchcraft in the country, the mother is more concerned about her son’s future. She said, “every time I look at him, I ask myself how his future is going to be as a man without a penis. Also I wonder what the rest of the community is going to look at him with a private part that looks like that of a female.”
Like the little boy, a lot of children have fallen victim to kidnappers and ritual killers. Due to their vulnerability, they are easily abducted on their way to school or heading to fetch water. These children, considered pure, are sacrificed by witch doctors to appease ‘the gods’ and bring a myriad of solutions which include wealth, good health, and fertility among others. Hearts, ears, livers and genitals are considered as key ingredients of the rituals.
Although the BBC documentary was released in 2011, not much has changed in Uganda. Very recently, six cases of mutilation and murder of children were reported by a charity organization during the recent Ugandan elections. The Kyampisi Childcare Ministries (KCM), a charity that cares for survivors of attempted child sacrifice, reported that children were used as good luck sacrifices during this period in order to bring wealth and power. Though Moses Binoga, coordinator of the anti-trafficking task force at the interior ministry, did not confirm KCM’s report, he agreed that children had been reported missing in the election period.
This shocking revelations show that it is now unsafe to be a child in Africa. Ritual killings is not peculiar to Uganda, it takes place in other African countries such as Liberia, Tanzania, Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland. The repeated occurrences of these killings without a penalty is a blatant violation for the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights. According to this charter, an individual is entitled to respect for his life and integrity of his person. However, disrespect for a person (children) life thrives in several African country.
Why ritual killings are still prevalent in Africa:
Ritualists are often patronized by the rich and wealthy
In Tanzania, children with albinism are targeted for sacrifices by witch doctors who gets paid by politicians to be successful in their election bids. Also, the Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law reports that in Swaziland and Liberia, politicians allegedly commission ritual killings to improve their odds in elections. The same pattern obtains in Uganda as well, where the wealthy pay witch doctors in a bid to expand their fortunes. In Ivory Coast, (where the rate of child abduction is so high that the UNICEF had to intervene) there are speculations that ritual killings by corrupt businessmen and politicians used body parts in ceremonies to confer supernatural powers.
Superstitions, culture and religion.
Africa is still entrenched in dogmas, myth and belief in magic. There is still a prevalence of confidence in charms and witch craft which has been handed down since time immemorial. Ritual killings are culturally acceptable in some parts of South Africa, therefore, the practice is not usually reported by community members. Occultism and other forms of religion permit ritual acts to appease the gods, abate misfortune and seek supernatural help. Many also perform these rituals out of fear of unpleasant spiritual consequences if they falter.
The web of culture, religion and superstition often results in an ethical conflict between protection of human rights and respect for the beliefs and practices of other cultures.
Secrecy
Not many have been convicted of crimes associated with ritual killings in Africa. Due to the coat of secrecy surrounding ritual killings, it makes it difficult to hold the responsible parties accountable and liable for their unlawful actions.
Tag SDGs
A part of the Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations says that the countries should:
Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere
End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children
Children are the most vulnerable in any society and it is the duty of leaders all around the world to provide a safe haven for its young. Africa needs to stop neglecting the safety of these innocent children. Its leaders should enact laws that protect them from gruesome murders that cut their lives short even before their prime.
It is time to enforce the African Charter, because although it permits religious practices, it does not favor jeopardizing a human life (under which ritual killings fall). African governments need to hold those responsible for taking human lives accountable. It is time for Africa to protect its children.
To better understand the following reports I will first provide some background information on the phenomenon of ‘Ngozi’, or avenging spirits, in the Shona community.
“In Shona cosmology, once “ngozi” is committed, it has to be recompensed in order for restorative justice to occur between individuals, families, and the community in general. However, failure to appease “ngozi” results in inexplicable misfortunes such as sicknesses or eventual death or deaths of the person or persons who would have committed the “ngozi.”
Also, Timothy Myambo is the author of an interesting book on Ngozi, entitled ‘A Biblical Evaluation of the Avenging Spirits (Ngozi): A case of the Shona people of Zimbabwe‘ (2010) which is also useful for better understanding the phenomenon. This is what he says about ‘Ngozi’, the avenging spirits:
The main reason for posting here a case of ‘ngozi’ forces – the first article below, entitled ‘Castration the ultimate price for ngozi‘ – is because it relates to a ritual murder committed nearly 30 years ago. Subsequently, in order to demonstrate that this case is not an isolated case of ‘avenging spirits’, I have added a second, recent case, however, not related to a murder for ritual purposes. Ngozi forces are not limited to avenge a ritual murder. A third case, presented here, again refers to ngozi seeking to avenge a ritual murder, committed some 45 years ago (in 2013, when the case was reported).
A fourth case, ‘Ngozi Haunts Marange Family‘ (dated March 6, 2021), allegedly refers to a ritual murder too. Unfortunately, the page is not accessible for technical reasons. As soon as it will be restored I will include the corresponding link here.
To conclude here a final remark: I do not pretend to know more about ‘ngozi’ than the average reader. Therefor, I have no opinion or judgement on this phenomenon. The focus of this site is on ritualistic activities based on superstition and motivated by an unstoppable greed for power or wealth and which are a violation of people’s human rights.That’s why I am presenting these reports.
Warning: the following articles contain graphic details which may disturb the readers.(webmaster FVDK).
Castration the ultimate price for ngozi
Published: February 26, 2021 By: The Manica Post – Tendai Gukutikwa, Post Correspondent
Four Marange families are at the mercy of an avenging spirit that is allegedly castrating its victims and killing them soon afterwards.
The avenging spirit is now demanding 50 beasts as compensation from the five families.
The Manica Post understands that male members from the Mukanjari, Denga, Ndova and Mauchaza families who have fallen victim to the avenging spirit woke up with blisters all over their bodies.
Suddenly their private parts fell off, leading to their instant deaths.
The spirit of Ruwizhi Makondo Mashato, who was allegedly murdered 29 years ago, is claiming that this is how he was killed by members of the aforementioned families.
Through manifestations on various members of the families, Mashato claims that his private organs were chopped off by his five neighbours before his head was cut off for ritual purposes.
His body was later dumped in a well.
Two of the alleged murderers – Dunmore Mukanjari and Dorcus Ndova – are still alive; while the rest – Manzinde Denga, Godfrey Denga and Agnes Mauchaza are now dead.
Mauchaza committed suicide a few years ago after being tormented by Mashato’s spirit.
The matter has since spilled into Chief Marange’s court and Mukanjari has confessed that he did take part in Mashato’s murder.
Ndova, however, insists that she had nothing to do with the murder. She says she only witnessed the crime.
However, the avenging spirit claims that Ndova held the dish that collected his blood as the gruesome murder was being committed in 1992.
Speaking to The Manica Post, Dorcas Ndova’s nephew Takesure Chadambuka said his family is going through hell due to Mashato’s avenging spirit.
“We need her (Ndova) to address this issue as a matter of urgency before we perish like the Denga family. The Denga homestead has been turned into a grave yard.
“Manzinde Denga and his son Godfrey were part of the gang that murdered Mashato. It is so scary because we do not know who is next. My brother died last year in December because of this avenging spirit,” said Chadambuka.
Following Mukanjari’s confession, Chief Marange said the matter needs to be handed over to the police.
“In matters like these, both the traditional and criminal courts should be involved. The perpetrators need to appease the avenging spirit and serve jail terms upon their conviction,” said the traditional leader.
Veresy Mutungwazi, who married into the Mukanjari family, said she has lost five children to the avenging spirit.
She said her late sons all woke up feeling weak and with blisters all over their bodies.
Their private organs fell off before their sudden deaths.
“I am only left with two children and I fear for their lives if nothing is done. I pray that someone will knock some sense into my father-in-law’s head so that he appeases this spirit. It is not fair to lose my children because of someone’s evil deeds.
“After my first child’s death, we all thought he had succumbed to a rare disease. But eyebrows were raised when the next child died in the same manner a few months later. After the death of my second child, Mashato’s spirit began manifesting and revealing all these details. The spirit has threatened to wipe off the entire Mukanjari family unless it is appeased,” said Mutungwazi.
Mercy Nyaude, who also married into the Mukanjari family, said two of her children have also died in the same manner.
“Some of the family members died after bleeding from their private organs. Their private organs were mysteriously chopped off, and then they died.
“Mashato’s spirit says he suffered excruciating pain when his private organ were cut off by his murderers, hence all the victims should go through the same ordeal.
“The avenging spirit is also targeting our livestock and most of our cattle and goats are now blind. Some of the livestock’s sexual reproductive organs also mysteriously disappeared,” said Nyaude.
Chief Marange said some of Mashato’s remains was recovered from the well it had been dumped for proper burial.
However, Mashato’s son, Harrison, claims his family never received their late father’s remains for re-burial.
“I do not know where the remains were put when they were retrieved as I was very young then. We never buried my father’s remains. In fact, he is also manifesting in our family asking for closure on the case through a proper burial,” said Harrison.
The chief is also unaware of how the remains were handled as he was not yet in office when they were retrieved from the well.
“I hear it took them three days to find some of my father’s remains. These men and women were our neighbours and we never suspected that they had a hand in our father’s disappearance,” said Harrison.
Related article (based on the previous article in The Manica Post):
Horror As Marange Avenging Spirit Castrates Killers’ Family Members
Distressed man (File photo)
Published: March 1, 2021 By: iHarare, Zimbabwe – Tim E. Ndoro
In what reads like the script from a Nollywood ‘African Movie,’ an angry avenging spirit, Ngozi in local parlance, is reported to be castrating and killing family members of the alleged killers.
iHarare has learned from the Manica Post that the avenging spirit is haunting four families from the Marange area in Manicaland. According to reports, the Ngozi is affecting the male members of the Mukanjari, Denga, Ndova and Mauchaza families. Those who are unfortunate to be attacked, are reported to have developed blisters all over their bodies. Once the blisters break out, their private parts mysteriously fall off and they die.
According to the families of those affected, the avenging spirit belongs to Ruwizhi Makondo Mashato who was allegedly murdered by members of the four families for ritual purposes in 1992. Mashato’s private parts were allegedly chopped off first before his head was decapitated by five of his neighbours.
Those who have been privy to the mysterious events claim that the avenging spirit said that Mashato felt excruciating pain when his privates were cut off. Because of this, all the victims of the avenging spirit must also feel the pain of losing their privates before they die.
Mashato’s avenging spirit is demanding 50 beasts as compensation from the four families.
The neighbours who are alleged to have killed Mashato 29 years ago are Manzinde Denga and his son Godfrey Denga, Agnes Mauchaza, Dunmore Mukanjari and Dorcus Ndova. Only the last two, Mukanjari and Ndova are still alive. Mauchaza is said to have committed suicide after being tormented by the Ngozi.
Mukanjari already confessed to the murder when he appeared before traditional leader Chief Marange. Ndova on the other hand disputed taking part in the murder. She is claiming that she only witnessed the event but did not participate. The avenging spirit, on the other hand, is saying Ndova is the one who held the dish that was used to collect his blood during the horrific murder.
One of Dorcas Ndova’s relatives Takesure Chadambuka is begging his aunt to come clean on the matter. Chadambuka told the Manica Post:
“We need her (Ndova) to address this issue as a matter of urgency before we perish like the Denga family. The Denga homestead has been turned into a graveyard.
“Manzinde Denga and his son Godfrey were part of the gang that murdered Mashato. It is so scary because we do not know who is next. My brother died last year in December because of this avenging spirit,”
Veresy Mutungwazi, who married into the Mukanjari family told the publication that she has already lost 5 children to the avenging spirit.
“I am only left with two children and I fear for their lives if nothing is done. I pray that someone will knock some sense into my father-in-law’s head so that he appeases this spirit. It is not fair to lose my children because of someone’s evil deeds.
“After my first child’s death, we all thought he had succumbed to a rare disease. But eyebrows were raised when the next child died, in the same manner, a few months later. After the death of my second child, Mashato’s spirit began manifesting and revealing all these details. The spirit has threatened to wipe off the entire Mukanjari family unless it is appeased,” said Mutungwazi.
Following Mukanjari’s confession, Chief Marange said that the police need to be involved as well.
“In matters like these, both the traditional and criminal courts should be involved. The perpetrators need to appease the avenging spirit and serve jail terms upon their conviction,” said the traditional leader.
Mashato’s son, Harrison commented on the matter saying,
“I hear it took them three days to find some of my father’s remains. These men and women were our neighbours and we never suspected that they had a hand in our father’s disappearance,”
Drama As Avenging Spirit Demands 5 Virgins, 75 Cattle…36 Years After Businessman Was Murdered
Avenging Spirit Demands 5 Virgins, 75 Cattle…36 Years Later
The late businessman, Costa Kafikira (Image Credit: The Manica Post/ The Weekender/ Zimpapers Digital)
Published: December 12, 2020 By: iHarare, Zimbabwe – Vincent Masikati
The biblical phrase, “the sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the sons” has become a dark reality for five families from Nyanga as an avenging spirit is demanding compensation for a murder that was committed 36 years ago. The avenging spirit (Ngozi) is demanding 75 head of cattle as well as 5 virgins.
iHarare has learned from the Manica Post that the avenging spirit of the late businessman Costa Kafikira is seeking justice from the families of the 5 men who allegedly murdered him. Kafikira is alleged to have been killed by his then neighbours, Willard Sakupwanya, Charles Fombe, Tsakadzai Mautsi and Tambuzwa Matseketsa in 1984. The fifth neighbour has been identified only as Benyu.
The five are alleged to have conspired to murder Kafikira by poisoning his alcohol. They then robbed him of his valuables and dumped his body near the Gairezi River. All of the alleged perpetrators are now late except for Charles Fombe.
Kafikira’s spirit is now manifesting on Tambudzwa Matseketsa’s daughter-in-law, Riona. Riona is reported to be now dressing and speaking like the late Kafikira.
Riona Matseketsa dressed like the late businessman Costa Kafikira who is reported to be manifesting on her
Kafikira’s nephew Paul Dzinduwa narrated how his uncle had been brutally murdered.
“When my uncle left home the day he was last seen, he was dressed in the clothes Riona came wearing.
“We searched for him for years and could not find him. What hurts most is that the killers were part of the search team back then. They would mislead us knowing very well where they had dumped my uncle’s remains.”
On the issue of compensation, Dzinduwa said that his family would abide by the laws of the land and not accept the 5 virgins as the giving of a virgin girl for purposes of ‘kuripa Ngozi’ is a criminal offence in Zimbabwe. Dzinduwa, however, said, that the family is quite happy to accept the 75 head of cattle.
“The spirit is demanding a virgin and 15 beasts from each of the perpetrators’ families, thereby making it five girls and 75 beasts. We, however, stand guided by the laws of the land when it comes to compensation or appeasement of avenging spirits. We know that the appeasement of avenging spirits with girls, women or any human being was outlawed. All we pray for is justice to prevail so that our uncle rests in peace. We need justice.”
The Matseketsa family said that the matter needed to be dealt with urgently because their family members are dying in mysterious circumstances while others are battling for their lives. The late Matseketsa’s son, only identified as Matseketsa reinforced the point saying,
“We need to appease the avenging spirit and be at peace with the Kafikiras”
The other four families are yet to approach the Kafikira family.
The previous article was based on an article in The Manica Post, dated December 11, 2020:
Ngozi demands 5 virgins, 75 cattle
Nicholas Kafikira, the late businessman’s eldest son
Published: December 11, 2020 By: The Manica Post – Tendai Gukutikwa, Post Correspondent
In a case that has left a Nyanga family at sixes and sevens, it is alleged that the avenging spirit of a businessman who was robbed and murdered by his five neighbours 36 years ago is demanding five virgins and 75 beasts as appeasement.
lt is said Costa Kafikira’s spirit is accusing his then neighbours in Tombo Village under Chief Saunyama — Willard Sakupwanya, Charles Fombe, Tsakadzai Mautsi, Tambuzwa Matseketsa and a Benyu of poisoning his alcohol, robbing and murdering him before dumping his body near Gairezi River.
Four of the alleged murderers are now late, save for Fombe.
Kafikira’s family says they stand guided by the laws of the land and will not accept human beings as appeasement for his loss of life.
They, however, will accept the 75 beasts.
The late businessman, Costa Kafikira
Said Kafikira’s nephew, Paul Dzinduwa, in an interview with The Weekender: “The spirit is demanding a virgin and 15 beasts from each of the perpetrators’ families, thereby making it five girls and 75 beasts. We, however, stand guided by the laws of the land when it comes to compensation or appeasement of avenging spirits. We know that the appeasement of avenging spirits with girls, women or any human being was outlawed. All we pray for is justice to prevail so that our uncle rests in peace. We need justice.”
It is said the avenging spirit is manifesting on Matseketsa’s daughter-in-law — Riona — who now dresses and speaks like the late Kafikira.
All this was revealed when the Matseketsa family recently approached the Kafikiras to chart the way forward.
Riona was clad in a pair or grey trousers, a red shirt and a tie. Kafikira’s relatives said the outfit resembles the clothes that Kafikira was last seen wearing.
Riona Matseketsa
“When my uncle left home the day he was last seen, he was dressed in the clothes Riona came wearing,” said Dzinduwa.
Kafikira was murdered in 1984 and his remains were discovered by herd boys three years later near Gairezi River.
His family identified him by his metal identity card and the family heirloom belt that was found near his skeleton.
“We searched for him for years and could not find him. What hurts most is that the killers were part of the search team back then. They would mislead us knowing very well where they had dumped my uncle’s remains,” said Dzinduwa.
The Matseketsas claimed that their family members are dying in unclear circumstances, while some are battling for their lives.
A Nyanga traditional healer, Sekuru Shingirai Mukotsanjera, advised them to appease Kafikira’s avenging spirit.
“Four family members have already died and the avenging spirit keeps telling us that more woes will befall the family. It is said my late father was one of Kafikira’s assailants and we cannot deny or accept the claim since he is now late. But if it is true, we are wallowing in poverty because of my father’s transgression.
“We need to appease the avenging spirit and be at peace with the Kafikiras,” narrated the late Matseketsa’s son, only identified as Matseketsa.
Kafirika’s eldest son, Nicholas Kafikira, said he was deprived of his father’s love and care by the killers as his father was murdered while he was still in his youth.
The matter is yet to be brought before Chief Saunyama’s court.
Kafikira said his family will take the matter to the chief’s court when the remaining four families approach them.
Published by The Manica Post on March 1, 2013, as reported by Ray Bande on Facebook
AFTER being murdered for ritual purposes by her husband almost 45 years ago, a Nyanga woman is now demanding reparations from her husband’s Mandikonza family in Nyanga.
The Mandikonza and Mavhunga families were left stunned at Chief Saunyama’s court in Nyatate area of Nyanga North last Friday when a female teenager possessed with the spirit of the late Tanganza Mavhunga demanded reparations and threatened to ruthlessly deal with the Mandikonzas.
The late Tanganza, who was married to the late Jack Mandikonza, manifested herself through a female teenager as she chronicled how she was cold-bloodedly murdered by her husband.
All hell broke loose recently when the possessed teenager walked for more than 10km from her home and went straight to sit in the ruins of the homestead where the deceased Jack Mandikonza used to stay with his late wife, Tanganza.
As she narrated Tanganza’s ordeal at the hands of her husband during the court session last Friday, the possessed teenager pledged to show the Mavhunga and Manikonza families the shallow grave where her remains were buried by her late husband.
“My relatives, you ought to know what happened. One day I packed my clothes and went away from Jack Mandikonza’s homestead. “As I was walking, about a few metres from the homestead, Jack followed me. He grabbed my hand and demanded that we should go back home. I refused. Since it was dark, he instantly took a knife and cut the lower parts of my breasts and went on to cut off my private parts.
“My relatives, I beg you not to touch anything that belongs to the Mandikonzas. My husband’s brothers Cosmas, Webster, Lazarus and Oliver bought cars and livestock after they used my body parts for rituals. “I will wreck havoc very soon in the Mandikonza family and I plead with you my relatives not to touch anything that belongs to the Mandikonza family.“
When you are ready, I can guide you to the place where Jack buried me near Nyanga Downs between two big rocks. That is where I have been lying since Jack murdered me. They made a fortune out of my blood, but I will deal with them,” fumed the possessed teenager.
The deceased woman’s aunt, who also attended the court session last Friday, said Jack Mandikonza was the one who later approached the Mavhunga family saying his wife Tanganza had disappeared.
“We were made to believe that Tanganza disappeared. In fact, it was Jack, the husband, who came to our elders in the Mavhunga family, saying his wife was nowhere to be seen. However, our fathers did not accept it and have always suspected foul play.“
For years, we were made to believe that Tanganza eloped to a Malawian lover and never came back. However, it seems as if chickens are coming home to roost because several unexplainable things have been happening in our family. She (Tanganza) appeared in my dreams recently bitterly complaining about our (Mavhunga family)’s silence over her disappearance,” she said.
In his ruling, Chief Saunyama adjourned the matter to next Friday after summoning the Mandikonza family representatives.
Another ritual murder case in Kenya. At least, all indications point to this cruel, senseless crime motivated by greed and based on superstition. Warning: the following stories contain graphic details of the murder of a young child (webmaster FVDK).
Murang’a: Girl, 8, found dumped with missing body parts hours after she disappeared
Published: March 2, 2021 By: Standard, Kenya – Ndungu Gachane
Shock has engulfed Kayu village in Kangema, Murang’a after a body of an eight-year-old girl was discovered badly mutilated and some body parts missing in what is believed to be a ritual killing.
According to the locals, the minor, Hannah Wambui went missing on Monday evening at around 7.30 pm. At the time, Wambui was at their shop located in their home compound and a search was immediately launched.
Kangema Subcounty Police Commander John Ogolla said they had arrested a 34-year-old neighbour of the deceased who is a casual labourer and was conducting investigations to establish whether he was involved in the murder.
Gideon Gitahi, the local Nyumba Kumi chairperson said after receiving a distress call from the deceased’s father, residents decided to move door to door in search of the little girl.
“Her mother had gone to look after a sick relative in Nairobi and so the deceased had been left under the care of her father. The girl went missing while the father was preparing supper in the main house,” said Gitahi.
He added that after conducting a search, the villagers found one of the deceased’s socks at the main suspect’s bedside and the police were promptly called.
Even after the police arrested the culprit, locals continued with their search mission for the whole night.
The long search came to an end after one of the neighbours who was involved in the search stepped on the body which had been dumped at a tea plantation.
Stephen Mwangi said the body had its private parts removed and skinned from the chest to the stomach.
“I could not look at the body twice, I made a distress call and when people came, they confirmed that it was the missing girl,” Mwangi said.
Mwangi joined his neighbours in alluding that the girl died of a cult activity but they also suspected that she could have been defiled before being killed.
“Her clothes were found in Kianguku shopping centre but her socks were found at the bed of the main suspect leads us to conclude that he could have defiled the minor,” locals claimed.
But it is the lack of bloodstains at the scene that baffled the locals who are yet to find any sign of bloodstains at any place in the village.
“Even if the girl was killed elsewhere and the body transferred to the scene, we could have seen bloodstains, and again the private parts were missing,” Gitahi said.
The deceased was a Standard One pupil at Rwathia Primary School and was the firstborn in a family of two.
Outrage over ritual-like murder of 8 year-old girl in Murang’a
Entrance to a Kenya police station
Published: March 2, 2021 By: Kenya Broadcasting Corporation – Sylvia Ombuya/ Wambui Mwangi
Police in Murang’a County have launched investigations into the mysterious murder of an 8 year-old girl.
The badly mutilated body of Hannah Wambui was discovered shortly after she went missing on Monday evening
According to residents of Kayu village in Kangema Constituency , the minor went missing on Monday evening at around 7:30 pm at their shop located in their home compound when the search ensued.
According to area Nyumba Kumi Initiative chairperson Gideon Gitahi, residents decided to conduct a door to door search for the girl after receiving a distress call from the deceased father.
“Her mother had gone to look after a sick relative in Nairobi and so the deceased had been left under the care of her father. When the father was preparing supper, the girl was in their shop located in their homestead. After conducting a search from door to door, we found one sock at the bed of the main suspect and we called the police, it was around 10pm,” Gitahi said.
Even after the police arrested the culprit, locals continued with their search mission overnight.
“Her clothes were found in Kianguku shopping centre but her socks were found at the bed of the main suspect leading us to conclude that he could have defiled the minor,” locals claimed.
One of the neighbors who was on his way to answer the distress call stumbled on the body which had been dumped at a tea plantation bringing to an end the long search.
According to Stephen Mwangi, the body had its private parts removed and skinned from the chest to the stomach in what has triggered fears that the murder could have been a ritual killing.
“I could not look at the body twice, I also made a distress call and people came and confirmed that it was the missing girl,” Mwangi said.
The deceased was a Standard One pupil at Rwathia Primary School and was the first born in a family of two.
The body of an eight-year-old who went missing last night (Monday) was on Tuesday, March 2 found in Kayu Village, Murang’a county. The girl was brutally murdered and dumped at a tea plantation
Hannah Wambui was a grade one pupil at Rwathia Primary school went missing on March 1, 2021. According to residents, she had been left in the care of her father after her mother left for Nairobi to care for a sick relative.
She reportedly went missing at 7:30 pm at their shop in the homestead while her father was making supper. The father called the local Nyumba Kumi Chair, Gideon Gitahi who called for an immediate door-to-door search.
“Her mother had gone to look after a sick relative in Nairobi and so the deceased had been left under the care of her father. The girl went missing while the father was preparing supper in the main house,” stated Gitahi.
One of the members of the search party raised an alarm after finding one of the girls’ socks in a man’s house.
“Her clothes were found in Kianguku shopping center but her socks were found at the bed of the main suspect leading us to conclude that he could have defiled the minor,” the locals reported.
However, police are also pursuing the angle of a ritual killing as the girl’s private parts had been removed.
The man was arrested but the search went on until one neighbor stepped on the body of the girl in a tea plantation.
“I could not look at the body twice, I made a distress call and when people came, they confirmed that it was the missing girl,” said Mwangi who has found the body.
There were no bloodstains at the scene where she was found which led the locals to believe that the act must have been propagated elsewhere.
“Even if the girl was killed elsewhere and the body transferred to the scene, we could have seen bloodstains, and again the private parts were missing,” added Gitahi.
Kangema Subcounty Police Commander John Ogolla said they arrested the 34-year-old man in whose house a sock was found and investigations are underway to unravel the murder.
