We only do prosperity charm, not money ritual —Lagos herbalist

SUBAIR MOHAMMED went in search of ‘stakeholders’ after a video on money ritual procedure went viral.

CYNTHIA Okorie (not real name) is a prostitute introduced to Saturday Tribune by her regular cab man, Kazeem Owotimo, to share her alleged recent narrow escape from suspected money ritualists in Victoria Island, with the commercial driver reportedly playing a role in getting her out of the dark night. After the initial agreement to talk to our correspondent, Cynthia changed the tune when it was time for the interview, saying going publicly on her ordeal, could further endanger her life. She would not be persuaded to go ahead with the interview, saying she didn’t know “that is the kind of question you want to be asking me”.

But the driver spoke to Saturday Tribune as a participant in Ms Okorie’s miraculous escape, while also relying on the story told him by his regular client, in the course of sending him a distress message in the dead of night.

According to Owotimo, his client had a narrow escape in the highbrow area.

Here is his story: “Around midnight that fateful day, I was returning from a trip to Ajah where I had gone to drop a client when I got a distress call from another client, a call girl. She was traumatised and urgently needed to be ferried out of danger zone.

“She sent the address of the guesthouse she was at Ozumba Mbadiwe and I drove down to pick her up. I met her half naked, hiding in a garden outside of the guesthouse. She was shaky. I hurried her into the car and drove her off to safety.

“Soon after, she narrated her ordeal. She said she was picked up by a young man in Surulere. She said they had a good time before leaving for Victoria Island around 10.00 p.m. There was nothing suspicious about him.

“The guesthouse was a bungalow. There were people relaxing with bottles of beer while some uniformed security guards paraded the premises. She said she didn’t know he was up to something devilish like sacrificing her for money ritual.

“So, he paid her the agreed sum of N15,000 immediately they got into the room and she got into business. She said the man requested for oral sex which she agreed to give. While giving him the ‘blow job’, she said the man requested for her real name and the name of her mother. But instead, she gave him her street name and a fake name as her mother’s name.

“Surprisingly, the man told her that the names she gave of hers and that of her mother were not real. She insisted.

“And he undressed and dipped his male organ in her mouth. He held her head tight with the instruction that she should be twisting her body like a snake. She said she thought it was part of the game. Perhaps, that was what would turn him on.

“As she was coiling her body and giving him a head, she felt a snake-like object crawling from his penis into her mouth instead of his semen. This was when she knew that something was wrong.

“She said she screamed ‘blood of Jesus! And the man withdrew. Angrily, he demanded for the refund of the N15,000 he had given to her and dashed out of the room to the premises to join his friends for some bottles of beer.

“As soon as he left the room, she said she felt strange in her body. And she thought the best she could do was to seek an escape route. But before that, she decided to steal some money from his bag as he had collected the money he gave to her.

“She began to search everywhere until she stumbled on a bag neatly hidden under the bed. She opened it and behold she saw an axe, a red-and-white cloth tied together, a small sword with a black piece of cloth tied to it, a brass cup and a calabash with black soap in it.

“At this point, she said her suspicions were confirmed. The man was a ritualist. He wanted to use her for money ritual. She said she was confused and she picked up her clothes and rushed out of the room with her phone to call me and fortunately for her, I was driving towards Ozumba Mbadiwe in Victoria Island.

“I drove into the street and there she was, hiding in the garden in front of the guesthouse. I picked her up and sped off. This was around 1.00 a.m. They chased after us but we escaped.

“As a cabman, I have seen many cases of ritual killing and many of the victims are call girls. Many of them have been used. You only see them appearing to be normal but in the real sense of it, they have lost their sanity.”

Ifa only allows prosperity charm —Priest, Dr Anipupo

Reacting to the craze of money rituals among teenagers, Lagos-based Ifa priest and herbalist, Dr Ifakayode Orifa Anipupo, said ritual is not only about bloodletting or sacrificing human beings.

According to him, no true Ifa priest or herbalist will indulge in money ritual either for himself or for others.

He stated that there is nothing like money ritual in African tradition but there is prosperity charm which requires no use of human parts.

Speaking to Saturday Tribune, Dr Anipupo said: “Some devilish herbalists make use of human beings as sacrificial materials for money rituals and lucky charms. But this is not what Ifa teaches.

“Ritual offering is an intercession between the physical and the spiritual. It is unfortunate that what we see today are some Islamic clerics and pastors with no knowledge about Ifa corpus committing various forms of dangerous and inhuman acts.

“You can never see an Ifa worshipper engage in money ritual. This is because Ifa is against it. So, if Ifa forbids it, why would an herbalist or an Ifa priest do it? Ifa frowns at it; it preaches patience in all human endeavours.

“To achieve anything in life, it requires patience. This is what Ifa teaches but it is unfortunate that today’s youths lack this important virtue. They want to succeed at all costs, not minding who gets hurt in the process. They are ready to kill and sacrifice human beings for money rituals without considering the consequences of their action.

“I want you to investigate those that are into ritual killings. They are either Muslims or Christians but the truth is, they have little or no knowledge about herbs and roots. Why would an herbalist post Ifa corpus on Facebook? A true herbalist will not do such. They are fake and are bent on tarnishing the image of Ifa worshippers. May Eledumare expose their evil acts.

“While I strongly condemn money rituals in all facets, I blame the government for failing to provide basic amenities for the youths. Many youths are driven into Yahoo yahoo, money ritual and other crimes because of poverty and joblessness. So, the government needs to address these challenges to be able to combat the social ills.

“There is no money ritual in Ifa but there is prosperity charm which does not require the use of human beings or human parts. Our youths should not be deceived into believing that there is a spirit that brings money for anyone.

“Patience and hardwork are the keys to success. It is an act of wickedness to severe human heads or organs for money rituals. As Africans, there are herbs and roots that can be used for lucky charms to boost good fortunes and sales.

“This is allowed in Ifa but sacrificing human beings for ritual is forbidden. It is inhuman. Those that use spirit would end up being killed by the spirit. No true herbalist will demand for human parts for you to be successful in life. You cannot end somebody else’s life to make success out of your own life. It is forbidden. Sacrificing human beings for money ritual is done by Muslim clerics as suggested by the names of the suspects that have been arrested so far.

“Their names give them out. They are either Muslims or Christians. You can never see a full-blooded traditionalist getting involved in money ritual or ritual killing because they know it is forbidden. But the truth is, these pastors and alfas have no knowledge of Ifa and neither do they have any understanding about Ifa corpus and herbs and roots. They only rely on the account they accidentally came across.”

Why they do it –Psychology professor

In a recent viral video sighted by Saturday Tribune on Tiktok, four young Nigerians spoke on effective materials for money ritual with no dire consequence. According to them  in the 30 seconds video, the best way to success is ritual.

They also claimed that using a blood relation like one’s sister or mother is less effective for money ritual than using girlfriends. The quartet were yet to be unmasked.

However, a professor of Psychology at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Oni Fagboungbe, disclaimed their message on rituals and success.

According to him, rituals for both money and success exist only in the perception of the people.

He said: “There are the power of thought and power of belief. These two are very potent in what people do. The devil has its power and followers. Even if you are a Christian and you don’t have faith, it will not work for you. For those that do money ritual, it is their faith that is making the money ritual work for them and not the incantation or the ritual itself.

“It is the law of perception. If you perceive a situation as real, it becomes real. That is it. It is not the ritual that brings money, it is their mind and the attachment they give to it.”

Speaking further on the rate of ritual killings among the youths, he said: “It is really a terrible thing cutting off a human’s head for money ritual. The part cannot be better than the whole. These children are Nigerians. They see and observe what is going on in the country. Usually, children exist on role modelling. They model to the behaviour of those they see.

“If the politicians can be going into rituals in order to win elections and to survive, these children are seeing them. There are two psychological laws that explain these behaviours. There is the Destalk psychology that says the part can never be better than the whole. The children cannot do something that is not rampant in their country.

“There is what is called observational learning. This is the most active form of learning. These children observe what goes on and imbibe it. The second law of effect says any stimulus that brings pleasure will be maximised and the one that brings pain will be minimised.

“These children see the society. They see politicians commit crimes and they also see them get out of them and all sort of things. They see how the society eulogise and applaud dubious characters. So, there are no deterrent variables available. People do as they like and get away with it. You will hear Yahoo boys say that if they give money to the police, they will be let off the hook.

“If there is no deterrent factor, then you can be assured that people will be doing these things with impunity. They will do what they like and get away with it. So many unpleasant things are happening around the country right now. You will see a mother buying a phone and laptop for her son to be doing Yahoo-yahoo. It means that if such a mother has access to ritual, she will do it for her son.

“Some mothers are encouraging their sons to do rituals and cybercrime all for money. And with all these, we have not seen anything. We are just seeing the beginning. It is the beginning of the beginning.”

On the role of religion in addressing the scourge, the don said: “Religion operates on your heart with God. It is a personal thing. We have seen children of pastors and imams go into crime and all sorts of things. This has nothing to do with religion alone; it is about the society. The society is a system.

“So, the parents must start training their children from home and they will not depart from the good morals when they grow. Everything about life is in the Bible but people choose the ones that suit them, whereas the Bible is the truth forever. How can a teenager be riding exotic cars and the society will be applauding him without questioning his source of wealth? The children are emulating the adults.”