A murder is a murder, and a crime, horrific, whatever the circumstances are. Killing people intentionally for whatever reason is a crime for which the perpetrator should be prosecuted and, if found guilty by an impartial and independent judge during a transparant, public trial, sentenced to a reasonable punishment.
This site’s objective is to raise awareness about ritualistic murders and to help eradicate this medieval practice. It is not always easy to recognize a ritual murder. Certain cases are crystal clear, but sometimes perpetrators disguise their malicious acts as a ritual murder in order to mislead investigators. That’s why we have to be careful in our investigations, declaring certain crimes as a ritualistic murder whereas in reality it is not the case.
One such case might be the following. However, the article below also mentions a – most likely – real case of ritual murder which, for that reason only, warrants its inclusion here. (FVDK).
Female juvenile found dead
Published: March 12, 2022 By: Varaidzo Mudewairi/Methembe Sibanda – News Day Zimbabwe
POLICE in Harare yesterday said they were investigating the murder of a female juvenile whose body was recovered from a maize field in Borrowdale on Wednesday.
“Police in Harare are investigating a murder case where a female juvenile (17) was found dead in a maize field at Kaseplan Farm, Pomona, Borrowdale on March 9, 2022,” a police statement read.
“The body was bleeding from the mouth and nose facing upwards with the skirt dropped to the toes.”
Police said a pair of shoes, handbag and a packet of salt was placed close to the body.
Three months ago, a five-year-old juvenile was found dead with some body parts missing in Nyanga in what the family suspects was a ritual murder.
Meanwhile, the Women in Law Southern Africa (Wilsa) yesterday urged the government to allocate more resources to the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to enable them to effectively deal with sexual offences in the country.
Wilsa official Fadzai Traquino said government should allocate more resources in order for the justice system to be fully decentralised.
“They are also issues to do with impunity, for instance, access to justice. Our justice delivery system is not yet fully decentralised to deal with sexual offences. Prosecution only happens at regional courts and not all towns in our country,” Traquino said.
A few days ago, on January 19, I published a post ‘Sketchy overview of the most famous ritual murder cases in Liberia since the 1960s‘ which included a link to a number of 2017 ritual murder cases. Since experience shows that after a certain lapse of time links to articles sometimes have disappeared or have become inaccessible I have decided to include this 2017 article in a separate post (hereunder).
As I have often emphasized here, the same experience of lost links – gained after some 20 years dealing with this phenomenon – justifies (in my eyes) the choice I made of adopting the same approach with respect to (all) other articles containing information on ritual murders, witchcraft, superstition or related topics in SSA.
I hope future researchers will be grateful for the choice I made! (FVDK)
Bong County protests election year ritual killings (2017 article)
Published: August 15, 2017 By: Rodney Sieh – Front Page Africa
Gbarnga, Bong County – An increasing number of mutilated bodies found this year in Bong County has sown fear among citizens of the county of resurgence in ritual killings.
“We have seen over five killings since the start of the year,” said Jacob Sameway, president of the Bong Christian Association (BOCA).
He said most of the victims were young girls whose lips, tongues, genitals and other organs had been removed.
The killings have stirred rising anger against the Government of Liberia and Police for doing too little to halt the murders.
“We want to shout out our disappointment and tell the authorities that this needs to stop,” said Olivia Weetol, president of the Bong County Women Organization.
Ansumana Jalloh, whose 12-year-old daughter was killed in Gbartala, Yellequelleh district in mid-December, told FrontPageAfrica he was losing hope for justice.
“When the Police removed the body from the water, they saw that the tongue, the lips, and the genitals were cut off,” he said.
“I filed a complaint but nothing has been done.”
In the most high-profile ritual murder case in Bong County to date, is a 29-year-old girl named Angeline Kolleh, 29, whose body was recently discovered decomposed in the Sugar Hill Community in Gbarnga.
Bong residents disappointed
Residents of the county told FrontPageAfrica Tuesday they are frustrated with the number of apparent ritual killings for multi purposes.
They marched through the streets of Gbarnga to demand that more should be done to address these crimes.
Women of the county under the banner the Bong County Women Association and the Bong Christian Association marched to the Gbarnga administration building on Tuesday and handed over position statements to acting Bong County Superintendent Anthony Sheriff and Bong County Attorney Wilkins Nat detailing several killings that had taken place in Bong County.
The position statement also said that residents in the county no longer feel safe, which is their constitutional rights.
“We present the position statement to the leadership of the county and the joint security apparatus in the county to address the issue of ritual purposes and wants the government empower the security particularly the Police to conduct rigorous search for Moses Porkpah, who is the alleged murder of Doris Nyan to ensure his arrest and to face justice without delay and consequences of his actions,” it said.
‘Police Failing Us’
The document detailed several murder cases which were opened, but in which no arrests were apparently made.
“The death aged 27-year-old Madasu Sannoe, who was reportedly murdered by her husband on June 17, 2015.
The remains of Sannoe is still at the St. Kennedy funeral home without clear decision from either the government nor her family members concerning her burial,” it alleged.
“Secondly, Doris Nyan aged 29 was killed in Cow Farm, Zota district on June 1, 2017 by her husband Moses Porkpah, who also fired two other community people in an effort to get him arrested. To date, Porkpah is yet to be arrested,” it added.
John Flomo aged 30 was killed in Bowee town on October 16, 2016. Jacob Kollie aged 25 was killed in Jennipleta, Jorquelleh District One on December 19, 2016. Ansu Massaquoi aged 45 was killed at Gull farm, Jorquelleh district on January 21, 2017,” it added.
“Our Police are failing us… it is like [criminals] did their own research to find that it will be much easier here because the Police are behaving like school principals sitting in their offices instead of being out in the streets saving lives,” said relatives of Nyan.
It called for the Police to intervene with immediate effect.
“We also expect to get response with immediate effect before the community takes law into their own hands,” the relative said.
Responding to the citizens’ petition, Bong County Attorney, Wilkins Nahn, said the government will ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
Nahn called for patience from victims as all was being done to increase the search of Porkpah and other perpetrators. “I would like to thank you for resorting to this peaceful manner but I would like to assure that the Police have been exerting efforts to ensure that the perpetrators are arrested,” he said.
Warning: the following contains graphic details of a ritualistic murder including a photo of the victim (webmaster FVDK).
Last week, the mutilated body of a young woman was discovered in central Liberia. The gruesome discovery took place in Gbarnga, capital of Bong County. The victim, 21-year old Annie Wamah, had been beheaded, vital body parts had been removed by presumably ritualistic murderers.
Liberia has been in the grip of a series of mysterious deaths, rituals murders and rumors alleging a wave of ritualistic killings in the country. As indicated in the article below, in recent months, reported cases of ritual killings have surged in the country. A rising number of mutilated bodies on the streets in the capital Monrovia and other parts of the country this year has sown fear all over the country.
I have reported more than once on this situation, still recently, see my postings earlier this month: on October 9, October 7, October 5, October 4, October 1, and September 30. The Liberian police has denied that ritualistic murders are being committed in this West African country which is notorious for its ritual killings, notably in connection with elections and other major political developments. However, the police confirmed one ritual murder which had taken place in Maryland County, in the southeastern part of the country. But reports of more ritual killings are persistent and several high placed people have condemned these criminal acts which have no place in a modern society.
The inevitable question arises: who is behind the apparent current wave of ritualistic murders? Who is responsible for the ritual killing of Annie Wamah whose dead body was found in Ghankay Farm (a common name in the area and presumably referring to Charles ‘Ghankay’ Taylor’s farm belonging to the warlord-turned-president who’s presently serving a 50-year sentence in a high security prison in the UK). The victim’s throat was slit and her tongue, lips and genitals had been removed, presumably for ‘juju’ purposes. Are ambitious politicians behind the crime or unscrupulous businessmen or -women, or other people who believe that this superstitious act works out positively for them?
Not only do we want to know the truth, the culprits must also be arrested, tried, in a fair trial, and – when found guilty – given the sentence which they deserve. Too many ritualistic murderers in Liberia go unpunished. Impunity is a bitter reality in Liberia. Unfortunately, only too many Liberians can confirm its existence in Africa’s oldest republic (webmaster FVDK).
Liberia: Missing Woman, 21, Found Dead, Body Parts Extracted in Gbarnga
GBARNGA, Bong County – Police in Gbarnga on Thursday confirmed the gruesome killing of a 21-year-old girl by persons suspected to be ritualists in the central city of Gbarnga, Bong County.
The police described the incident as “unfortunate and mysterious”. The police said investigation had begun into the case and that the Crimes Services Division (CID) had been directed to take over the case.
Concerned residents had earlier told FrontPageAfrica that the victim, Annie Wamah, was not only killed, she was beheaded and vital organs were removed by suspected rituals.
Also confirming the reports, the deceased’s uncle, Moses Harmon, said his neice, a resident of Buteh Sue community in Gbarnga, electoral District Three, had earlier gone missing on Monday, October 11 around 10:00 am when she arrived in Gbarnga from her parents’ farm in Wainsue Town.
Harmon said he first raised the alarm and organised a search party, but efforts to find her proved abortive until 8:00 p.m. when her corpse was found in Ghankay Farm with her throat slit and other vital organs removed.
“On that fateful day I got a call that my niece was missing and I raised the alarm and asked community members to help the family search for her,” he said.
“The matter was immediately reported at the Police station, but it was not long that information came that her body had been located at Ghankay Farm.
“She was slaughtered like a goat and the corpse dumped in bush,’’ he said. “When the police came and saw the body, they saw that the tongue, the lips, and the genitals were cut off,” Harmon said. “The family filed a complaint but I know it will go nowhere.”
Harmon appealed to police to unravel the sudden death of his neice.
In recent months, reported cases of ritual killings have surged in Liberia. A rising number of mutilated bodies on streets in Monrovia and other parts of the country this year has sown fear in Liberians.
Recently, the lifeless body of a girl believed to be in her 30s was discovered in Caldwell with body parts extracted.Till date perpetrators of the dastardly act are yet to be found.
A day earlier, another lifeless body of a man believed to be in his 40s was found in the Soul Clinic community. As at the time his body was recovered, some parts had been removed. They included his penis, eyes and tongue. Still, perpetrators have not been arrested.
Liberians have taken to social media to raise alarm about the rise in ritual activities, urging commuters to always write down the identification markings of public conveyance vehicles as they enter and make phone calls to loved ones to pass on the information.
Amid the scourge in suspected ritualistic activities in the country, Police Inspector General, Patrick Sudue and his deputy Prince Mulbah, say such reports are untrue and being fueled by opposition politicians to tarnish the image of the government.
Sudue and Mulbah, appearing on the national radio few weeks ago, disclosed that the police are only aware of a single ritualistic incident, which occurred in MaryLand County, adding the perpetrators are facing justice.
“People are being paid to tarnish the image of the country and to raise false national security alert. There are inconsistencies in their statements,” Sudue says.
Meanwhile, Mulbah, Deputy Police Inspector General for Administration, described information about ritualistic killings in the country as a ploy designed by the opposition to create fear for diaspora Liberians who want to return home.
“As far our investigations are concerned, we haven’t established anything called ritualistic killing apart from what happened in Maryland County,” Mulbah says.
“We have heard a lot of people talking on social media of people being kidnapped and taken away, these are paid agents.”
Sudue said most of these social media pictorials and videos about ritualistic incidents are not a representation of what is unfolding in the country.
He warned those involved in orchestrating a negative image about the country to desist, or face the full weight of the law.
However, the country’s Vice President, Jewel Howard-Taylor called on those in authority of the security to take actions that would end the many mysterious deaths that are linked to ritualistic killings.
The vice president said Liberians are feeling more insecure than ever due to the rise in suspected ritualistic activities in the country.
“I’d like to call upon our security sector to please put in place a regime that will enable our people to remain safe. The situation involves instances where women’s private parts are being cut off, stories of young people being taken in specific location where others allegedly were being used for ritualistic purposes are very alarming,” Howard-Taylor said.
