IN Nigeria, like other parts of the world, there is never a shortage of crime and criminals. But how the society handles them is what makes all the difference. Often in this clime, people get away with a lot of things, which emboldens them in their criminality, and it can only be hoped that the present case proves to be an exception. Many, no doubt, were left completely stupefied when a suspected kidnapper in his 20s recently declared that he could not recall the number of children his gang had kidnapped from Ilorin, Kwara State, for the purpose of money-making rituals! The suspect, who reportedly made the startling confession after he was apprehended by eagle-eyed citizens in the process of kidnapping a child, was pummeled by an irate mob and only escaped death by a whisker after a police team on routine patrol rescued him from the mob.
In a trending video of the incident, the suspect confessed that he was given the sum of N10 million by the leader of the gang, a resident of Dagbolu, a suburb of Osogbo, Osun State, to carry out the act. He also volunteered the names of other members of the gang. Reacting to the incident, the spokesperson of the Kwara State Police Command, Adetoun Adetoun, confirmed that the suspect was in police custody. Said Adetoun: “Members of the public are strongly advised to report all suspicious activities to the nearest police station rather than resort to self-help or violence. The Kwara State Police Command is aware of a video circulating in the media space regarding a young man who was accused of and apprehended for child kidnapping in Ilorin. The command wishes to inform members of the public that on Friday, 16th May, 2025, at about 7 p.m., operatives of the Kwara State Police Command apprehended an adult male (name unknown) for alleged child kidnapping in Ilorin. The suspect, who claimed he was from Osun State, was apprehended by a joint patrol team of police operatives and community vigilante members during a routine operation. He was rescued from a violent mob who had accused him of attempted kidnapping of a child, and were on the verge of executing jungle justice. The suspect is currently in police custody as investigations continue to ascertain the facts surrounding the allegations and identify other individuals who may be connected to this incident. The complainant(s) involved are yet to report at command headquarters to provide more information to aid police detectives in unraveling this incident. Further updates will be provided as investigations unfold.”
This story is indeed scary. It is beyond disturbing. Just how could blood-thirsty criminals have paraded the streets of a state capital, abducting innocent and unsuspecting children at will? How many reports of such kidnapped children were lodged by distraught parents or family members and what was the outcome of police investigations? For how long had the suspect and his gang members, if his claim is authentic, been involved in the dastardly business of kidnapping children and transporting them to the murderers who killed them for money rituals? And for how long had the suspect been operating undetected in Ilorin? How did he and his gang evade detection for so long? How were the children usually abducted and taken to wherever the money ritualists at the background of this sickeningly frightening story wanted them taken to? It is hard to imagine that an unknown number of children, possibly running into scores or even hundreds, had been kidnapped and butchered by those involved in the evil business of money ritualism, a practice involving occult manipulations for money making, and in which vital organs and body parts of victims are harvested in the most gruesome fashion. What kind of society allows this kind of evil to thrive? How can children be kidnapped with such ease, until a kidnapper cannot even remember the exact number of innocent children whose life he and his gang had destroyed, or even hazard a guess? It is certainly shuddering that the suspect would have continued his terrible business if he had not been apprehended, but there is still a distinct possibility that other members of the gang who are yet to be caught are continuing their dastardly business, which means that the police must widen their dragnet and bring the suspects to book.
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If it is super-easy to commit crime and evade arrest, then there must be something fundamentally wrong with the society. And that, really, is where the problem lies. As we have noted time and again, in the absence of consequences, crime can only fester. All too often, certain criminals with connections to top members of the political class are alleged to escape justice peddling corruptive influence. This does not happen in every case, but members of the Nigerian public can be forgiven for being skeptical about the situation. It is a no-brainer that if kidnappers faced the prospect of arrest and prosecution with every kidnapping incident, kidnapping would reduce significantly. As it is, though, criminals are having a field day sowing pain and agony into families. In the case of children, the issue is even more troubling, because the spectre of innocent children being separated from their parents and their future and sent to their untimely graves is one of the features that mark society’s descent into darkness.
We urge the police to do a painstaking investigation and get justice for the children kidnapped and butchered by ritualists, even if they were never in the news. Certainly, the people called ritualists must be deriving some form of profit from their nefarious trade, but it is striking that no one has ever boldly identified as a ritualist, let alone get a spot on the Forbes’ rich list. The law is clear on the fact that whatever mythology drives their business is repugnant to natural justice and patently illegal. People who are prepared to shed the blood of others, including innocent children, do not deserve to roam society as free men and women. They deserve to be prosecuted in the court of law, convicted and hanged for their crimes. No two ways about it.
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