…As insecurity, killing for money rituals spread across states
• Anambra, Enugu enact laws to check menace
• Native doctors, traditional worshippers, herbalists, others react
By Enyeribe Ejiogu, Olakunle Olafioye (Lagos), Taiwo Oluwadare (Ibadan), Tony John (Port Harcourt), Scholastica Hir (Makurdi), Stanley Uzoaru (Owerri), Aniekan Aniekan (Calabar) and Jude Chinedu (Enugu)
There was a time when native doctors lived humble lives. People consulted them discreetly, when they had problems that required spiritual intervention for resolution. For the ones that were known to be powerful medicine men, people related to them with a combination of awe and respect.
Most native doctors of yore were essentially herbalists who used their knowledge of the efficacy of herbs, either as single remedies or a combination of herbs, to treat particular illnesses and disease conditions.
Of course, the herbalists believed that certain spirits were associated with certain herbs, and for that reason would appease them with sacrifices of chicken, goats and other animals, and appeal to the spirits to allow the healing efficacy of the herbs to be beneficial to the ailing person for whom the herbal concoction was made. Life was genteel and easy going then.
At the other end of the traditional medicine spectrum were native doctors who could be engaged by evil-minded individuals filled with envy, malice and jealousy, to use their satanic powers to deal with somebody they did not like or who was doing better than them.
But lately this picture of the average native doctor has fast given way to a new breed of affluent and flamboyant “native doctors,” who live in palatial buildings with several luxury vehicles parked in their compounds. They flaunt their new-found wealth on social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, among others.
Today, when you ask Google to tell you the names of rich native doctors, it will display categorised lists, with titles like “Top 5 Richest Native Doctors” or “Top 10 Richest Native Doctors” in a particular part of the country. Google will also give you links to the videos on YouTube and elsewhere, which show their homes and exotic cars.
Senator Dino Melaye, who loves luxurious, exotic cars, may not even have the types these so-called native doctors park in the extensive garage of their palatial homes, and flaunt on YouTube like celebrities.
They adopt fantastic titles that project their supposed mysticism even as they associate with dark, dishourable politicians and other fraudsters.
These new “native doctors” by their loud lifestyles and evil practices have eclipsed the real herbalists/native doctors who most Nigerians grew up hearing about.
These new ones are believed to be the drivers of the rapidly growing menace of people being abducted and killed for moneymaking rituals, special protective charms and organ harvesting.
Once revered as healers, spiritual guides, and custodians of African traditional medicine, native doctors in Nigeria are now under increasing public and governmental scrutiny.
It is heartwarming that Anambra State governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo and his Enugu State counterpart, Governor Peter Mbah, have risen to the occasion, to clear their jurisdictions of the new breed of criminal native doctors, whose practices run contrary to the time-honoured, simple and beneficial healing intervention of the native doctors/herbalists of the past.
For years, Joseph Ibezim, a marketing strategist and perception management consultant from the Southeast had watched with growing alarm as the social media was inundated with inglorious, in-your-face-publicity of the vaunted exploits of the more vociferous native doctors, particularly those from the Southeast.
“Till today, you still find their odious videos on YouTube. Until Governor Soludo began moving against them and got the state legislature to enact the law that barred their further operation, these criminals, yes, criminals – that is what they are because the real thing they do meets all the definitions of crime – masqueraded as native doctors. Their activities have given momentum to the inordinate desires of young people to make money by every foul means. They began by making charms that were supposed to make their clients be able to evade security checks at airports with hard drugs.
“And several young drug couriers believed the mumbo jumbo and got caught. These criminal native doctors went a notch higher, promising their clients that they can make special bulletproof charms for them. Several of these claims are just what they are – mere claims. Unfortunately, a lot of their clientele believe and patronize them.”
Again, from watching popular Yoruba movies and folklore, many hold the belief that native doctors in the region are also vast in ritual practices that involve use of human parts.
However, a Yoruba traditionalist and herbalist, Chief Kayode Okegbemi, dismissed this assertion, saying that killing of human beings for the purpose of ritual is alien to the Yoruba traditional religion and culture.
Instead, he blamed the upsurge in this nefarious practice in Nigeria on the failure of the government to deal decisively with people with questionable sources of income.
Okegbemi said that the Yoruba traditional religion is not only humane, but also strives hard to protect the sanctity of human life and as such will not encourage the killing of human beings under any guise.
He noted that those who practice money rituals or other forms of rituals involving the killing of human beings cannot claim to have learned it from the Yoruba traditional religion.
“No perpetrators of inhuman ritual practices will ever tell you that they got their idea from Yoruba traditional religion because the religion does not encourage the killing of fellow humans for whatever purpose. No Yoruba deity will ever demand items like human parts as ingredients of appeasement or breakthrough,” he stated, adding that those who “practice such wickedness got the knowledge from some strange cultures and religious practices other than the Yoruba.
“There are few places around the world where human ritual was practiced in the past. I don’t want to say they still practice it now because I am aware that no country would like to be identified with such a heinous practice at this stage of civilization and advancement. That is where those who practice it (rituals involving human beings) probably got the idea. In fact, I understand that there are people who travel to these places to acquire this strange knowledge,” he said.
Generally, Okegbemi said, the Yoruba traditional religion believes in appeasement on behalf of people to receive favour in their business, health, marital life, career and victory over their enemies and agents of wickedness. “None of these require any sacrifice involving human life in Yoruba traditional religion,” he stressed.
He urged the state governments to go after people who spend money recklessly and engage in offensive display of wealth not earned from transparent means.
“There are people who throw money at social gathering as if they fetch their own money from the river; there are also people who acquire meaningless, but ridiculously expensive assets in manners that make others to feel sorry for themselves to the extent of contemplating suicide; the government should make a law that will empower security agents, like the EFCC, to carry out discreet investigations on their source of income without waiting for petition from anybody. If people know that they will be invited and investigated for spending money in suspicious manners, they will be careful in attracting undue attention to themselves through their reckless lifestyle. And more importantly, they will not influence people who are struggling to meet their basic needs to begin to think of looking for money desperately,” he said.
In Oyo State, authorities are clamping down on practices that intersect with money rituals and criminal activity. The situation is complex and layered. Historically, African traditional medicine was a respected and integral part of communal life. Native doctors were trusted figures who used herbs, roots, and spiritual insight to treat ailments, resolve conflicts, and provide protection.
“Back then, we were like community doctors and counselors rolled into one,” Chief Alade Ogunlowo, a septuagenarian native doctor from Oke-Ogun, said.
“Our work was more about healing and less about wealth.
“However, the rise of modern medicine and the spread of Western religious beliefs contributed to a decline in traditional healing. What remains today is a fragmented system, part legitimate herbal medicine, part exploitative enterprise tied to the promise of quick riches,” Ogunlowo noted.
Leaders of registered alternative medicine associations say the profession’s current image problem is caused by individuals they described as unscrupulous elements masquerading as traditional healers, preying on vulnerable people.
“Money ritual practices are a perversion of our calling,” Dr Taye Adebayo, president of the Oyo State Association of Alternative Medicine Practitioners, said, adding, that “we treat patients with approved herbal remedies. We do not engage in rituals or blood sacrifices. Many trace the growing association of native doctors with moneymaking rituals to the 1990s, a period marked by economic hardship, unemployment, and moral decay.
“It was during SAP (Structural Adjustment Programme) that people started looking for shortcuts. The desperation created demand, and fake native doctors supplied it.”
The belief in charms that bring wealth remains widespread, particularly among the youth.
While most practitioners interviewed denied involvement in such practices, a few anonymously admitted that charms for “favour” or “influence” do exist, but not for miraculous wealth.
Despite these denials, tales persist of clients bringing body parts, albinos, or even sacrificing loved ones in exchange for riches.
Alleged ritual materials range from animal blood, rare herbs to human body parts and mystical incantations.
Dr Rafiu Adeyemi, a traditional spiritualist based in Ibadan, dismisses such accounts as “urban myths and Nollywood fiction,” adding that “real native doctors know the consequences of those acts, which are devastating. That is not African medicine, it is murder.”
The Oyo State Ministry of Health, which regulates alternative medicine practitioners, insisted that only registered healers are allowed to operate.
“We distinguish between licensed herbal practitioners and spiritualists making unverifiable claims,” Mrs Modupe Aina, director of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, said.
She confirmed that the ministry has received reports of ritual-related incidents, which are forwarded to law enforcement agencies for investigation.
“Unfortunately, there’s a thriving underground of unregistered practitioners, especially in rural and semi-urban areas,” she added.
Across Oyo State, residents expressed a mix of fear, disbelief, and resignation. In towns like Saki and Ogbomosho, reports of ritual killings and missing persons have caused widespread anxiety.
“I don’t go out after dark anymore,” Ronke Ajibola, a trader at Bodija Market, said, adding that “there are too many stories about young boys using their girlfriends for money rituals.”
Analysts say the public’s fear is not misplaced.
“We’ve observed a rise in youth crimes linked to ritualistic beliefs,” Dr Bamidele Faleti, a sociologist at the University of Ibadan, said, adding that “this is a values crisis – fueled by poverty and the glorification of material success.”
In response, the state government has taken several measures.
A task force has been set up to track and shut down unregistered traditional practitioners. Community awareness campaigns are being launched in collaboration with religious institutions to educate the public.
“Education is key,” Aina emphasized, adding: “We must teach young people that wealth doesn’t come from rituals, but from hard work.”
With a doubt, Nigerians are witnessing the commercialization and exploitation of traditional medicine, with some practitioners making unsubstantiated claims.
Few traditional medicine practitioners who spoke with Sunday Sun were unable to pinpoint an exact time, when native doctors (herbalists) became increasingly involved in moneymaking rituals.
They claimed this shift might have been fueled by popular culture and social media influence.
They argued that there is no empirical evidence to support the claim that native doctors can create charms that guarantee wealth.
In Port Harcourt, Rivers State, a traditional medicine practitioner, Alhaji Rasheed, said that native doctors use different items for their patronizers based on their different beliefs and learning.
He said that the items required for money rituals vary, but they often include symbolic objects, herbs, and sometimes animal sacrifices.
Rasheed said that the specifics can be shrouded in mystery, and the efficacy of these rituals is unsubstantiated.
He said that the killing of human beings and sale of body parts are a new trend because of societal and social media influences.
Rasheed, who is 79 years old, said that the recurring cases of uncovered ritual killings and display of ill-gotten wealth, especially by youths, are a dangerous signal of where the society is heading.
He explained that alternative medicine practitioners typically use evidence-based practices that deviate from conventional medicine, often incorporating natural therapies.
On the other hand, native doctors, according to him, often rely on traditional spiritual and cultural practices, which may not be evidence-based.
He advocated for evidence-based practices and regulation of traditional medicine, alleging that dubious and unrecognized (unregistered) practitioners, because of their dealings, portray genuine traditional medicine dealers in bad light.
His words: “I have been in this business for more than 30 years. I was in apprenticeship for seven years. We learned this trade with passion, taking time to know herbs and leaves and ailments you can use them to cure.
“That time, it was a passion; we were not being carried away by money. We were concerned about seeing your customer returning to tell you that medicine you mixed for him has healed him.
“But what we see now is competition; I mean very high competition, especially from this new generation who came into the business without properly undergoing and understanding the rudiments of the profession. I wouldn’t be wrong if I say some who are into this business are diabolical.
“We have a regulatory body. But you know, there is no area or profession you would not find quacks. These quacks are the people making it appear as if, we, traditional medicine practitioners, are into harmful or dangerous business against humanity, no!”
Meanwhile, there is anecdotal evidence that money rituals are practised in Rivers State, but the extent is unclear. Public perception is likely mixed, with some people believing in the efficacy of such rituals and others viewing them as exploitative.
Another practitioner, Alhaji Nurudeen Durojaiye, said that the impact of money ritual practice on society can be negative, promoting exploitation, superstition, and undermining critical thinking.
He said: “Sometime ago, there was a reported case of a client who came back to his native doctor and demanded his money after paying millions of naira for quick wealth, and it resulted to crisis. It’s unfortunate.”
He said that government agencies, law enforcement, and community leaders should work together to educate the public and regulate traditional medicine practices.
The Port Harcourt-based traditional medicine practitioner lauded the Anambra State governor, Prof Charles Soludo, for curbing the excesses of native doctors and proper documentation of their existence in the state.
He urged other state governors to emulate Soludo, stressing that proper documentation of traditional medicine practitioners and native doctors would reduce the rate of ritual killings in the society.
Money ritual strange in Cross River
To people in Cross River State, the practice of money rituals sounds strange as the practice is not visible in most communities across the state.
It is very rare to come across a medicine man within the state who professes to make people rich. Traditional practices across the state have no place for money rituals and there is no known ritualist within the state with the ability to make anyone rich.
Most young people rather believe in betting and a large number of youths across the state patronize these betting companies and believe they can break even through bets.
The state Commissioner for Information, Erasmus Ekpang, also confirmed the investigations, saying that nothing like “money rituals exist within the state.”
Speaking generally on the subject, Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Atamunu Diocese in Cross River State, Rt. Rev. Otuekong Ukut, recently identified prosperity gospel, unethical practices and get-rich quick syndrome as being responsible for increasing rate of ritual murder in Nigeria.
The cleric made the remarks while commenting on his recent appointment into the World Methodist Council Ecumenical and Inter-religious relationship Committee for the 2025–2029 term.
He condemned the involvement of youths in ritual killings simply because they want to get rich quickly at all costs and called for the intervention of leaders of thoughts in all the geographical regions of the nation in order to secure a bright future for the youths.
“You see a 19 or 20-year-old boy, killing mothers, killing fathers and sometimes their own friends for get-rich-quick rituals. It’s a trend, which we need to join hands to reverse because today our youths have become disillusioned”, he said.
The state government also has a tough stance against trado-medical practices and over the years a task force has been in place to rid the state of trado-medical merchants.
Yahoo-Plus boys go extra mile
Imo State it’s believed to be among the states flooded by Yahoo boys who have gone the extra mile to make it through “Yahoo Plus”.
The term Yahoo-Plus refers to fraudsters who have added spirituality to “cash out from their clients”.
The Yahoo Plus boys are said to visit native doctors to receive occultic blessings to defraud their clients.
For youths between 14 and 20, this has become the norm in the state.
This has led to increase in ritual killings in the state, which are perpetrated through abductions by “One chance operators,” who harvest organs of their victims.
Most kidnap victims, according to a source, have their private parts, eyes, liver and intestine removed for the purpose.
Someone who fell victim said that on a radio phone-in programme in the state that he entered a bus at Bank Road and found himself in a bush, where they demanded for ransom, but he could not pay, but was lucky to have escaped from their den.
But the police in the state should be given a big credit for their vigilance in arresting most of these criminals. Bushes are being combed and the Commissioner of Police and some security chiefs in most cases lead in the bush combing operations.
The crime has been attributed to hunger and lack of job opportunities.
In some cases, the youths prefer the easy way out to make money which has often resulted to criminal activities.
The Chairman of Imo State Traditional Rulers Council, Eze Emmanuel Okeke, has resolved with his cabinet to send the non-indigenous native doctors away, accusing them of being responsible for the surge of kidnapping in the state.
To this end, they ordered for the dismantling of shrines and altars by the visiting native doctors and relocation to their states.
In Benue State, moneymaking ritual is a strange practice. Residents who spoke to Sunday Sun said that they hear or read about it in the media.
Mr Livinus Ashwe, a farmer and motorcyclist, said: “We don’t do money rituals in Benue State. For those of us who do not have a government job, we depend on our fertile soil to put food on our table and we are okay with what the land gives us.
“I haven’t done it before neither do I know anyone who has done money ritual before so I don’t know the items required to do such rituals and I don’t also know if their claims on making people wealthy by these native doctors are true.”
Pa Simon Idoko, a retiree as well as High Chief Adekunle Hassan and Koleosho Ifeoluwa, who are both traditional medicine practitioners, agreed with Ashwe.
High Chief Adekunle is a member of the National Association of Traditional Medicine Practitioners (NATMP) in Benue State and is over 60 years old.
He said: “I used to read those cases on social media to have happened in the East, especially in Anambra, Enugu and Imo states and other places, but I have not heard or witnessed it in Benue.”
He explained that there is a huge difference between a native doctor or herbalist and herbal doctors.
“Herbal doctors are those people that are well educated, having attended higher institutions and are graduates. For instance, I went to Federal College of Medicine, located at Kofi Abayomi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos State, affiliated with Lagos State University. But when you talk about herbalists, they are those that deal with the spiritual aspect.
“The license given to us, there is no spirituality there. The people doing rituals are doing it on their own. They are not our members. I am a member of National Association of Traditional Medicine Practitioners (NATMP), and as our member, you are not allowed to do anything ritual.
“But anything that has to do with health challenges, we are equal to the task; that of spirituality is for the native doctors. If you are suffering hypertension, diabetes, asthma, fibroid, menstruation without pregnancy and the likes, you can come to us.”
The High Chief noted that his forefathers practiced traditional medicine in the olden days.
“In fact, I inherited it from my father who was a great hunter. At that time they were not civilized or educated. They did it on their own, they didn’t have dosage, but these days we have dosage, we have measurements unlike in the past when people could even be given overdose. Right now our medicines are also scientifically checked and proven to be potent for cure.”
Asked if he believes in the potency of the charms for money ritual, Chief Adekunle simply said: “I’m a typical Yoruba man from Oyo State. I don’t believe in rituals.”
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Health in Benue State, Dr Yanmar Ortese, also noted that moneymaking ritual is not practiced in the state.
He said: “Frankly speaking, money ritual is one aspect that is very rare in Benue State. I have not done any study, but I was born and brought up in Benue, I have worked in Makurdi, I have worked with a governor where we traversed all the local government areas of the state more than three times, but money ritual is not common in Benue especially among us, the Tiv people.”
Speaking on traditional medicine practice in the olden days, Ortese who stated that he was born and brought up in the village, in the midst of elders said: “In African traditional religion, they made use of fowl and animals for cleansing. This was because they felt that illness does not befall an individual except it is accompanied by a bad spirit.
“So they would use the chicken, turn it round by rotating it around your head and they will be making some incantations, commanding that sickness or spirit to come out of you. After they will slaughter the chicken and sprinkle the blood meaning that the blood of the chicken has cleansed whatever evil or spirit that would have befallen you.
“So, I watched that as a kid growing up in the village and at times they go through this divination to tell you what the problem is and to also direct you on the kind of herbs you will use. They do them and they claim that they get well.
“But what I was trying to put between my orthodox medicine and what I saw was management of protein, energy, malnutrition, Kwashiorkor or Marasmus where you say children don’t like eating food. So, when they cook or slaughter chicken, they mix it with palm oil and the food will look attractive and that encourages the child to eat.
“Those days they did such things and the kids picked up and did well. These days we look at it as being fetish and a lot of them are going extinct, but some still existing. But currently, they use only herbal medicine, herbs. They don’t do any spiritual thing.”
In the face of increasing concern over ritual killings and criminal use of charms in Enugu State, some traditional religion practitioners have spoken out to defend their practices, distancing themselves from acts they described as “abominable” and “un-African.”
Speaking to Sunday Sun, a native doctor from Igogoro Agu in Enugu Ezike, Okwy Nwodo, explained that traditional spirituality was never intended to harm, but rather to help people progress in life.
“When some people talk about charms, we only do what will make someone progress, not to hurt or harm anyone.
“Before the white man came, no woman gave birth through caesarean section. People fell from trees and were healed without going to orthopedic hospitals. This is part of our culture. It is not about ‘okite’ or using human beings for rituals. We don’t believe in that. We only heal people,” he said.
Echoing the sentiment, Felix Agboja, Secretary of the African Traditional Religion (ATR) group, emphasised that ritual killings and money rituals have no place in genuine African spirituality.
He said: “I don’t think all our forefathers who worshipped God in their own way are all in hell. People should not see it as being devilish.
“Even in Christianity, people still practice the opposite of what they preach. There’s always a negative side of everything, it depends on how you apply it. A lot of killing and fraud take place in churches, but that’s not enough reason to condemn the entire Church.
“While some of us are solely into herbal medicine, some are spiritualists that help the African connect to his gods. Some people engage in the two practices.”
Also speaking, the Chief Priest of Nnemocha Shrine argued that Africans should reconnect with traditional religion in its original, untainted form, rather than associate it with bloodshed or criminal acts.
“Yes, it is true that people do all manner of things in the name of traditional practices, but it is not what we preach. In Igbo land, these things are called ‘Aru’, abomination. You don’t shed blood in the name of tradition; that is not our culture.
“I was once a Christian pastor, but I had a call and had to return to my roots. Even in Christianity, they talk of someone having a call. But there are different kinds of calls. Traditional religion is not evil, as people make it seem,” he said.
Another traditionalist, Ukamaka Ogbu, encouraged young people to reject the urge for quick wealth, warning that such pursuits often lead to dangerous paths.
“You don’t have to sacrifice a human being to be called a traditionalist. You have to keep your hands pure,” she said.
In response to growing public concerns over ritual killings and illicit spiritual practices, Governor Peter Mbah recently announced the transmission of a sweeping Executive Bill to the Enugu State House of Assembly.
The proposed legislation entitled: “Maintenance of Internal Security, Vigilance, and Order,” seeks to regulate the activities of native doctors, spiritualists, and related persons in the state.
Among its key provisions, Section 3(1) mandates that “every person who engages in the practice or rendering of spiritual services within the state, whether as a native doctor, herbalist, spiritualist, chief priest, diviner, seer, or by any other traditional or spiritual title or designation, shall be registered with the ministry, department, or agency (MDA) of the state as may be designated by the governor.”
Failure to comply with this registration requirement would attract a fine ranging from N1 million to N5 million, or two years’ imprisonment, or both.
Section 15 targets ritual and criminal practices disguised as spiritual services. It prescribes six years’ imprisonment or a fine of N5 million, or both, for anyone who administers charms, substances, or objects to another person for the purpose of criminal protection (“odeshi”) or illicit wealth acquisition (“okite”).
The bill also cracks down on individuals who falsely claim supernatural powers for personal gain, with penalties of three years’ imprisonment or a fine of at least N3 million or both.
Additionally, the burden of proof lies on any individual claiming supernatural powers during investigations.
Section 16 stipulates six years in prison or a N5 million fine, or both, for anyone who uses or allows the use of religious places for criminal acts. Such facilities will be sealed pending investigation.
Section 17 addresses the gravest offences, prescribing 20 years’ imprisonment without the option of a fine for anyone who participates in rituals involving human parts or compels others to do so.
Furthermore, Section 13 empowers security agencies to arrest and investigate any person found in a forest, bush, or camp under suspicious circumstances without lawful justification.