Kidnapping for Rituals: Article of Faith and Insecurity in Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction Nigerians are highly religious people. The Gallup International (2012) ranked Nigeria as the second most religious country in the world, based on a survey that shows that 93 per cent of her population tended to be religious. Religion plays an important role in the politics, economy and security of Nigeria as a nation. The Nigerian politicians understand this position and are obediently observing a non-writing code of a Christian-Muslim ticket in a political contest. This arrangement has gone a long way to reduce religious tension in the federation. Nigeria has witnessed a series of religious conflicts since the 1980s. There are frequent incidents of Christian-Muslim conflicts, and recently Islamic fundamentalists are proliferating in Nigeria. Certain religious doctrines and rituals are often manipulated to encourage violent conflict. A recent example is the campaign of terror in the Lake Chad region by the Nigerian based Islamist Boko Haram, which has killed over 23,000 people and displaced 3 million people (Oyewole 2015a). The subject of faith and security in Nigeria has generated a growing academic attention. Nigeria is estimated to have a population of 48.2 per cent Christians, 50.5 per cent Muslims and 1.4 per cent others (PFRPL 2006:85). Based on this demography, religions such as the African Tradition Religions (ATRs) have received insufficient academic attention, and their security implication has remained underexploited (Nwolise 2013; 2012). However, many of those who publicly indicated that they are deeply committed to the practice of Christianity or Islam also incorporate elements of in their daily lives (PFRPL 2010:4). The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (PFRPL) find out that about 11 per cent of the Nigerian population believe in the protective power of sacrifices to spirits and ancestors (PFRPL 2010:4). This suggests that the relevance of is underestimated. The religious-security nexus in Nigeria cannot thus be fully understood without paying attention to other faiths and rituals, and their implications. Ritual killing, which is a tradition in some parts of Africa, and kidnapping for this purpose is a subject of faith that is less understood in the religion-security nexus in Nigeria. Kidnapping has emerged as a major security concern in Nigeria, and the fate of the victims is generating a growing attention (Oyewole 2015b; 2016a &b). There has been over 4,000 cases of kidnapping reported to the police without any traces of the victims in the last decade (NBS 2013). It is suspected that the majority of these victims were abducted for ritual rather than ransom or any political objectives. Kidnapping for ritual involves killing or severing the body part of abducted persons for the purpose of using it as an object of ritual sacrifice aim to acquire ritual-money, favour, fame, success, power and protection. Nevertheless, this phenomenon has received little academic or policy attention. Thus, this study examines the patterns, threats and the socio-political economy underpinning of kidnapping for ritual in Nigeria. Beyond the legalpolicing measure, the dominant government response that has proved insufficient to contain this threat, this study observed that the phenomenon is an article of faith that cannot be easily wish away unless committed efforts are taken to address the socio-political economy underpinnings in society. Kidnapping in the Framework of Ritual Sacrifice The concept of kidnapping for ritual in Nigeria and other part of Africa can be deconstructed as a nexus between kidnapping and ritual sacrifice. The act of kidnapping is described in Section 364, Chapter 77 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act of 1990 as unlawfully imprisons of any person in such a manner as to prevent him [or her] from applying to a court for his [or her] release or from discovering to any other person the place where he [or she] is imprisoned, or in such a manner as to prevent any person entitled to have access to him [or her] from discovering the place where he [or she] is imprisoned. …

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