Nigeria is grappling with a disturbing trend: the alarming rise of ritual killings perpetrated by internet fraudsters, notoriously known as Yahoo boys, who target young women for financial gain. To combat this menace, Dr. Idowu Olufemi Amos, a senior sociology lecturer at Federal University, Lokoja, in an exclusive interview shared insightful perspectives with Africa Health Report Southwest correspondent, Korede Abdullah. Drawing from both sociological and psychological expertise, Dr. Amos proposes practical solutions to stem the tide of ritual killings, highlighting the critical role of family dynamics in addressing the phenomenon. Read excerpts below:
AHR: Can you provide context on the recent surge in killings of young ladies for money rituals by Yahoo boys?
There is no motive behind the killings more than get-rich-quick syndrome. If it is an issue of having sex with a lady, that’s a different thing entirely. That’s for pleasure. But when the issue of rituality is coming in, it involves the issue of getting money faster than what is normal.
AHR: What societal factors contribute to the rise of Yahoo culture and the associated killings in Nigeria?
There are many societal factors. The factors can be looked into majorly and particularly from the family. The foundation of the society is weakened and broken. If a county or society will be stable, it starts from family. Many homes are not intact. Socialization is no longer effective, even students of nowadays they don’t have it. Parents are busy looking for money here and there. Nobody trains their children about morality any longer. So number one factor is family. Secondly, our value system is comatose. People appreciate money more than reality. Once you get rich, they don’t care about the source of your money. When you see a 21-year-old child who is using a Toyota Venza, 4Matic Benz or Lexus 350 – a vehicle of N9m or N20m plus, then, the question should be, what work is he doing? That’s aside, then the parents, don’t they see this? A child of 20 years building mansions, without having a particular job.
AHR: How does poverty, unemployment, and economic inequality influence the involvement of young people in internet fraud and ritual killings?
Yeah, we don’t need to lump them together. Truly there is high rate of unemployment in the country. But we cannot say it’s because of unemployment that get people involved in ritual activities. If you don’t have a job, there are other things you can do to survive, better than being engaged in ritual killings. If a child is engaged doing tangible things whether he’s self-employed or you are employed by government or by a private organization, in this case your thought may not go to ritual killing. But whereby you don’t have anything doing, you are roaming about moving with someone who is into ritual killings, there is a tendency for peer influence. It is not per sea that because there is no job, we cannot adduce unemployment directly to the cause of ritual killing. But the societal value is in a state of anomie.
AHR: What role does social media play in facilitating these crimes?
They do if may tell you. Young ones of nowadays, once they have access to Android phones… Hi phones, they see the way rich people are brandishing and showing off wealth (on the social media), then their concern is either ‘get-rich-quick or die-trying. They are not looking at the morality behind, but they just want to get involved. So, the social media is also a promoter. The (various) social media (platforms) are not displaying anything of value any longer. You see young ladies showing nudity on the social media, and people are patronizing that, and they have many followers. They will tell you they are creating contents. So, the social media is part of it.
AHR: How do traditional beliefs about money rituals and human sacrifice contribute to these killings?
It contributes. Ritualists and those who subscribe to the traditional beliefs, they encourage it. Let’s assume that as an herbalist, a young man came to you, and you advise him ‘go and work.’ He goes to another person, and he tells him ‘Go and work.’ He will refrain from such act, because there is no way for him. But where he was told ‘Go and bring someone’s breast, fresh one. Go and bring someone’s private part. Go and cut the head, the armpit and the rest. When they know that if they can get these things, there a herbalist that can easily do it for them, they will be more encouraged. Let me give an incident that occurred recently, two weeks ago, in Lokoja here. A young lady, who was a student my school – Federal University, Lokoja, was lured, I don’t want to say “kidnapped”, they bought Chi Vita (fruit juice) for her – the juice that was poisoned. And the guy that lured the lady, as alleged, took her an uncompleted building, strangled her and killed her. He at the same time, cut the private parts of the lady, removed her breasts, and heart. And these harvested parts were packaged, and way billed to Ibadan, Oyo State from Lokoja and sent to a particular ritualist. So, after that one had done the work, by either cooking the body parts or adding soap to it, he way billed the package back them in Kogi State from Ibadan. There is a somebody’s human parts! Let’s assume there is no someone to enable them, they would not get involved in it. It’s because there is a giver and taker. And they have something to gain from it. The herbalist as well as the young ones, are part of the problem.
AHR: How does peer pressure and socialization contribute to the normalization of these heinous crimes?
Peer pressure can only contribute as a factor to encourage. It is very hard for peer pressure to the control of ritualist activities in Nigeria.
AHR: The focus is mainly about the ritual killings by the Yahoo boys. That is, killing of the young ladies….
Yeah, you mentioned peer pressure. Peer pressure is a factor that influences as well. If you look at the theory of Edwin Sutherland (1947), he wrote about different association theories. And one of the theories says that a bird of a feather flocks together. There no way, out of hundred, hardly can you see ten, that will move with bad gangs that will not be influenced. Peer pressure is a factor. Let us assume that in a school where there is a hostel, where you have four boys or four girls. Out the girls there are into hook-up, what is called olosho package in the local parlance, there is a tendency for the three to influence the last one to join them. Likewise in the group of boys, if the three of them are into drug abuse and the rest, they can easily lure the last person. Only the ones that socialization is so firm in their lives, after the parents have given birth to them, they made sure they are reborn.
AHR: Are there any notable psychological characteristics or traits common among perpetrators?
You are looking at it from the angle of whether it is transferable from the parents?
AHR: I mean maybe there is a particular characteristic trait common to those people who perpetuate the heinous crimes.
When we talk of it biologically, we mean maybe there is a genetic factor.
AHR: We can also look at it psychologically too.
Psychologically, in this case we can talk of personality. There are three ways to human personality development: one, we talk about genetics; two, we talk about the environment; three we talk about the situation. These are the three things that can contribute to human personality development. Even if you have a personality from your parents that you Inherited, your environment can also influence that personality. At times as well, any situation you find yourself could also contribute to whom you are and influence whom you may likely become. Those are the three factors that influence personality. Then if they are in the negative side, from parents, you inherit bad behaviour, and your environment as well. Maybe whether you are living in a slum whatsoever, also contributes to this because what you have in you as a genetic factor could also be propelled out by the environment where you live in.
AHR: Do you believe Nigeria’s law enforcement agencies are adequately equipped to tackle the issue of ritual killings?
They are not.
Question: What policy changes… (cutting in)
Ask me why the Nigeria’s law enforcement agencies are not adequately equipped to tackle this issue. The reason is this, we only have laws in Nigeria, our major problem is implementation. There is a criminal act, there are cybercrime laws. All these are there. What have they been doing with them? The issue of cybercrime and Yahoo plus of a thing, what they do is that they work on the internet, and this has to do with space. Do we (government and law enforcement agencies) have control on the internet? In that regard, the Nigerian legal system is not yet perfected. There is no central control unit whereby, whatever is happening in the space, how do they control it? There is lack of e-policing. Policing is not about on physical ground alone. In (advanced countries) overseas, there are gadgets and trained personnel who are knowledgeable in this area, who can monitor and control these (crimes) to an extent. In Nigeria, we still lack that.
AHR Coming back to the earlier question, what policy changes or interventions would you recommend addressing the root causes of these killings?
We have to go back to the base. Family is in shambles. There should be a policy on family, not just on the issue of Yahoo boys. Let people give birth to what their economic capability can train. That is number one, and then parents should also be conscientized to know that their children are their future. They should train them well. Parents do not any longer have time for their children. That’s aside. Government has a role to play. In this regard, let all the critical stakeholders engage these youths. Let me narrate a story. There was a time, after I had graduated from university for eight years, I had no job. I now told a friend that I would change my mind on how to make money. He replied that I could not change my mind. He said “one, you’ve read, you have a first degree and a Master’s. Anything you do now you should consider those things first. You have a wife, and you have a child.” But younger ones who are not in this line of education, who do not go to school who do not have family to think about, they can do and undo. Let there be control and checkmate on the number of children a family can have. There also should be government policy on family.
AHR: How can community-based initiatives complement law enforcement efforts?
They can complement it. I was at a conference on Friday in Abuja, with the focal point of policing Nigeria in a time of crisis like this. We are telling them (at the conference) that at this time, there is the need for community policing. Policing is beyond the issue of conventional or traditional policing. At the moment, community should be part and parcel of policing. It should not be the issue of one side or the other. People that are perpetrating the Yahoo crimes are known by the community more than what the police can see. The police cannot function alone without information. They need intelligence. And this only comes from the community. The community has a lot of roles to play.
AHR: What role can education and awareness campaigns play in preventing these crimes?
They have a lot to do. I am an educationist, don’t let me deceive you, students are not ready to learn, teachers are not ready to teach any longer, unlike before. There is the need for re-orientation, even from the government. I won’t deceive you, many of our good University lecturers have japa (travelled out of the country for better opportunities). With the way situation is, if I have the opportunity, I too will leave. So when you don’t have the good hands in the job, there is a problem. When the little hands are overloaded and overwhelmed with work, there is little they can do. They cannot be as efficient and effective as they should be. Education is a good factor (in preventing ritual killings and other crimes). Go and look at the countries that are doing well and look at their educational problem that is where they pick from. Nigeria has lot to do, by reforming the educational system. When they do that, it will control the activities of Yahoo boys and ritualists in the country.
AHR: How can parents, educators, and community leaders guide young people away from these harmful activities?
You even need to add government to this, in the sense that those who have been arrested, what happened to them thereafter? The people who arrested that one in Lokoja (who killed a young lady recently) didn’t want to take law into their own hands, that was the reason he was handed over to the law emf agents. The suspect confessed that he strangled the lady. He said he was not the ones that removed the breasts and other vital organs from her body. Mere confession that you’re the one who killed her is enough. That guy should not be in existence ordinarily. Because if he is sent to prison now for rehabilitation, there is nothing they are doing in the prison more than to keep custody of them. By the time the guy comes out of prison, he is more advanced in criminality. So, government has a role to play. The entire community has a role to play. Parents have a role to play. They should take good care of their families. Family is the number one problem in this country, I won’t deceive you. How will a father have eighteen children? Tell me how he will take good care of them. Out of the eighteen children I can tell you that there will be four or five among them that will be stubborn and that their lives will not be so good. Even if the father is rich, how will he be able to take care of them all? So, all the critical stakeholders like family, government and the society have their own role to play to guide young people away from these harmful activities.
AHR: What message would you like to convey to the public regarding these killings and the broader societal implications?
We need to educate and reorientate our young ladies. They themselves have problems. Once you can buy Hi phone 13 pro max now, their problem is over. Even if you are ready to cut their private parts away, they are not bothered. They want to live large beyond their means. They want to live beyond what their age can carry. You see a girl of 16 years; she wants to live large. She wants to mingle with big boys. Look at the Lokoja girl that was killed, a sixteen-year going to 17-year-old. If a young man who is not rich, but with a future ambition had approached the girl, she might definitely replied she was his mate. In this regard, we should talk to our young ones, particularly ladies. They should be careful, know the kind of friends they keep. If you don’t know the kind of person that he is, don’t even try it. Don’t trust your fingers, let alone another person.
