Is Ilorin Becoming Den of Ritualism?

By Wale Abideen/Managing Editor/ This morning The Nation Newspapers reported that a hospital attendant, Fatima Suleiman, and a herbalist, Salaudeen Ibrahim, have been arrested for stealing a new born baby’s placenta on October 31, 2018, at Capstone Hospital, Ilorin, Kwara State. The Newspaper quoted the state Commissioner of Police, CP, Kofowora Bolaji, that “upon successful surgery, the doctor handed over the placenta to Fatima to give to the father of the baby, but she instead sold it to Alfa Salaudeen Ibrahim to use for charm.”

Last month, Ilorin was in the news over a man caught with about 11 human skulls. Five suspects including a couple, Mr Azeez Yakub and Mrs Salina Azeez, and three others -Isah Wasiu, Abubakar Isiaka and Soliu Yakub were arrested in connection with the human skulls. CP Bolaji in a media conference said that “The police acted on intelligence available to the command about suspected ritual killings around Adewole area of Ilorin by some ritualists and detectives from the police command swooped on a building located at 20 Ole-Opa area of Aromaradu, Adewole Ilorin, and one Yakubu Azeez and four others were rounded up. A search warrant was conducted in the building, 11 human skulls, several suspected human bones, a bunch of suspected human hair and other items were recovered
In March this year, a 32-year-old Lagos based tailor, Suleiman Ajenifuja, was paraded by the police with three suspected human skulls. The suspected ritualist, a father of two, who also claimed to be working as a street sweeper in Lagos, said he was taking the skulls to an Islamic cleric for spiritual purposes when he was arrested.
He said he combined street sweeping with tailoring, adding that he wanted to use the skulls to make a ritual to draw more customers to his shop. Ajenifuja said a friend connected him to the Islamic cleric.
Undoubtedly Ilorin is blessed with Islamic scholars and trado-medical priests- both genuine and fake. Recent discoveries left a bitter taste in the mouths of residents who wonder why such practice now dominates news headlines. Sheikh Abdul Yakeen, in a telephone conversation hints Security Monitor that “this prevalent ritual practice is caused by the lackadaisical attitude of the people to be alert and feed the police with information. The Islamic scholar noted that most of the suspects caught in Ilorin were not indigenes of Ilorin but only reside in Ilorin. He calls on genuine Islamic scholers to aprais the situation with the motive of solving the menace.

Rahamon Aliagan, Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Guild of Investigative Journalists, NGIJ, blames the police for not setting up mechanism through which members of the community can send discreet information. “I’m an indigene of Ilorin and I know the fear of the police is very rampant when you talk about police/civilian relationships. People have a kind of fear or distrust on the police and therefore could be very skeptical giving clues to the police”.
To many residents, Ilorin is fast becoming known for ritual practice. Pastor Makanjuola is an Ilorin based cleric and security expert who told SECURITY MONITOR that “it is unfortunate our state is now been known for such high level of sin against God. We used to hear of rituals practice in Ogun state and other South West and Igbo states but now seems the state of harmony requires an upgrade security policy that would nip the menace in the bud before it gets out of hands”.