House Of Reps Declares National Emergency Over Ritual Killings In Nigeria

Lately, there has been a surge of ritual killings in the country. A day hardly passed without the news of ritual killings happening in the country. It has indeed raised eyebrows with various people and bodies proffering solutions and also calling for an end to it. Recently, the house of reps swung into full action to ensure that this menace is stopped. The house of reps while sitting yesterday declared a national emergency on the increasing state of ritual killings in the country. They urged the inspector general of police to bring to book and persecute all those involved in the act.

In their bid to find the root causes and eradicate things that encourage ritual killings. The house of reps have asked the Nigerian film and video censors board to increase monitoring of videos produced with ritual killing contents, and ensure that such contents are deleted in line with its mandate.

In one of my previous articles, I talked about the issue of the high cases of ritual practices going on in the country. I wrote on how the film industry also played a part in the increase of ritual killings. They display scenes glorifying ritual coupled with flamboyant living without depicting sad endings of people who engaged in such.

While adopting a motion, Mr. Okechukwu also said that scenes containing ritual practices have become rampant in home videos, adding that if not checked such movies can negatively impact the mind of the youths in Nigeria. The deputy minority leader has tasked the National orientation Agency (NOA), the media, school owners, and parents to carry out enlightenment campaigns to curb the rising cases of ritual killings in the country.

Mr. Okechukwu raised concerns about the rising cases of missing persons, which he said is happening at an alarming rate. This law passed is very commendable because if this issue is not nipped in the bud, it will degenerate into something worse. Aside from the fact that most ritual killers have ladies as their prime target, it has finally gotten to the stage where males and females are no longer safe in society. This is the time for all hands to be on deck to ensure that this menace is eradicated. From top government officials to the bottom, all actively have a role to play.

Knowing how powerful the media is, there should be massive media campaigns against rituals and their falsehood on TV Series. The Nollywood industry should also join the campaign by displaying movies revealing the falsehood and deception of ritual practices. Also, not only youths who engage in ritual acts should be arrested, but also the native doctors and human parts dealers who are demanding decapitated body parts. Each time every ritual suspect is apprehended, they usually claim that it was an instruction given to them by herbalists and native doctors.

Those native doctors/herbalists should be traced because they are also accomplices who are aiding and abetting these practices. A well-mapped-out strategy should be launched to go after all those who call themselves herbalists or native doctors. If they can go to graves to disengage human parts, they can as well do it to the living. It is indeed worrisome that while youths in other climes are embracing science and technology as a way of maintaining pace with the dynamic evolving world, some youths in the country are stuck in the mistaken belief that sacrificing humans is the surest route to wealth.

I commend the house of reps for swinging into full force to deal with those involved in ritual killings, but then I believe that a solution should also be proffered. The growing rate of unemployment in the country and the moral decadence in the society has promoted the get rich quick syndrome among youths. The youths need something that will shift their focus from these evil practices. More jobs need to be created that will keep them busy, and I believe that when the youths are actively engaged the rate of ritual will reduce drastically.