Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the Force’s Public Relations Officer, has urged traditional institutions and community leaders to confront the problem of ritual killings in the nation head-on.
Adejobi stressed the necessity for group action in a statement posted on X.com on Thursday in response to the growing number of ritualistic murder cases that have destroyed many families.
Adejobi found motivation in the effective partnership with customary establishments to oppose the Badoo customs in Ikorodu, Lagos.
He emphasized that as ritual killings are a spiritual matter that calls for an all-encompassing strategy, community leaders and traditional institutions must be involved in the battle against them.
He wrote, “I believe that to address this threat, our established institutions and community leaders should get involved and take decisive action.
“We adopted a similar approach when we were to tackle Badoo rituals in Ikorodu, Lagos. We can’t curb it if the traditional institution is not interested or involved. It’s more spiritual than legal or physical.
“The police and law enforcement agencies in these areas and the states must incorporate the leaders and the traditional institutions into the fight to curb it.
In addition, the police spokesperson argued that ritual killings should be covered by a different legislation from murder cases.
He maintained that the crime of ritual killing included both murder and disdain for the corpse and rituals.
He went on, “And there needs to be a defined legislation that covers ritual killings as well as murder prosecutions. Ritual killing should be punished separately because it involves both murder and disrespect for the dead and rituals.
