– By VANESSA ONAKPO-FURE –
There are so many bad things in the world but according to many, cannibalism is considered just about the worst. Depending on your point of view, it rises above even such criminal abominations as, rape and genocide. Then again, we live in a culture, in which people would run vomiting to the bathroom if they saw what went into making their shawarma or meat pie.
In the common world, when one utters the word cannibalism, it is often understood to be the consumption of human flesh by another human. It is considered to be a taboo and therefore, many hesitate to talk about it. Cannibalism, eating of human flesh by humans. The term is derived from the Spanish name (Caríbales, or Caníbales) for the Carib, a west indies tribe well known for its practice of cannibalism.
It is surprising to know that there are still cases of cannibalism in Nigeria till this day. There was a case of a suspected 57 year old cannibal arrested for selling human parts he confessed that he usually ate the body parts and identified the throat as the most delicious part. He also sold some of the human parts to his customers. Exhibits recovered from the suspect included intestines, oesophagus, penis and two eyes.”
Another case of some rescued victims of the ransacked kidnappers’ and cannibals’ den in Udah community at Orsu local government area of Imo State and Uli community in Ihiala local government area of Anambra State have said that victims of the kidnap gang were converted, molested, assaulted, raped, killed and roasted as the case may be.
The Nigerian media sources report on the killing of a “hunchbacked” person in four separate incidents: in the capital of Ondo State in 2012, in the south of the country in 2011, in Kogi State in 2010, and in Osun State in 2009. The “hunch” of the victims was removed, reportedly for use in money-making rituals.
In Kogi State, a convicted serial killer and former soldier killed a 22-year-old female student, intending to dismember her body for ritual purposes, before being arrested by police. The killer had reportedly been convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 2003 but had later been acquitted and released (ibid.; APA 19 May 2012). Two men from Nasawara State confessed to killing a seven-year-old boy, the child of neighbours, and severing his head for a man who had promised them 250,000 Nigerian Naira.
All these can be traced to the result of the first Nigerian cannibal Clifford Orji. Clifford Nwa Orji was the first documented Nigerian cannibal who was also indicted in serial killings, kidnappings, and sale of human body parts and was arrested in 1999.
Orji died on August 12, 2012 in Nigeria’s only super-maximum penitentiary where he spent 13 years
Clifford Orji is originally from Enugu State but lived in Lagos state, where he started as a razor-blade merchant. He later abandoned the trade and proclaimed himself to be a shaman advertising himself as “native doctor Chinneyelu” and on multiple occasions would feign temporary insanity to dissuade people from coming close to the part of the bridge where he lived. He didn’t have a house so he lived under a bridge in Oshodi-Isolo In what could be well described as a lair and would later be commonly referred to as Clifford’s kitchen.
He was arraigned at a Magistrate court in Ebute-Meta in Lagos state and was remanded in Kirikiri Prison which is Nigeria’s only super-maximum prison.
After his arrest, a thorough search of his hideout was made which revealed multiple decaying corpses and fresh human body parts, coupled with those was a Cheque of ₦80,000 and a mobile phone was discovered, and this was suspicious because in 1999 the G.S.M hadn’t been fully introduced to the Nigerian market & possession and ownership of a mobile phone then was reserved for the opulent Nigerian elite upper-class which Orji definitely wasn’t.
Orji confessed to kidnapping and cannibalism. He confessed that him and his accomplice named Tahiru had been kidnapping unsuspecting individuals and eating them since 1992. Orji who had shown no remorse throughout the course of his arrest stated that even if he were to be released he would continue kidnapping and indulging in cannibalism.
Orji also made a very controversial claim and stated he either ate his victims or sold their body parts to high ranking Nigerian politicians who rewarded him financially hence his ability to afford and own a mobile phone.
His statements were however not substantiated with any cogent evidence.
While in Nigeria’s Kirikiri maximum prison alongside his accomplice Tairu Aliyu in Apapa, Clifford Orji began to suffer from full blown psychosis. He was remanded there for 13 years and died on August 12, 2012 while some there were Unconfirmed reports that he might have been shipped abroad by his patrons and sponsors. But Evident abound that Clifford Orji might be dead.
In Nigeria there is a discreet trade in body parts for religious, medicinal Or Voodoo ceremonies. The case of Clifford Orji has disturbing echoes of earlier killings when a man called Innocent Ikeanyanwu was discovered with the head of a 10-year-old boy in 1990s. While Innocent was in police detention, he confessed to have been regularly shipping severed heads to some highly placed Nigerians for money and ancient rituals. But before he could mention their names, Innocent Ikeanyanwu died of “cardiac arrest”.
Ritual killings in Nigeria are performed to obtain human body parts for use in rituals, potions, and charms. Ritualists, also known as headhunters, go in search of human parts at the request of herbalists, who require them for sacrifices or for the preparation of various magical potions human body parts are brought to herbalists who perform the rituals. Such rituals are reportedly motivated by the belief that they can bring power and wealth to an individual. Sources also indicate that charms are believed to make a person invincible and protect them from business failure, illness, accidents, and “‘spiritual attacks'”.
According to the Criminal Code (1990) of Nigeria, a person who commits a murder will be sentenced to death (Nigeria 1990, Sec. 319(1)). Similarly, subjecting a person to a “trial by ordeal” that results in death is also punishable by the death sentence (ibid., Sec. 208). A person found in possession of a human head or skull within six months of its removal from a body or skeleton can be sentenced to five years in prison (ibid., Sec. 329A(1)). The Criminal Code also states that: Any person who s in possession of or has control over any human remains which are used or are intended to be used in connection with the worship of invocation of any juju; or makes or uses or assists in making or using, or has in his possession anything whatsoever the making, use or possession of which has been prohibited by an order as being or believed to be associated with human sacrifice or other unlawful practice; is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment for two years. (ibid., Sec. 210). Sources indicate that the Criminal Code is applicable to the southern states of Nigeria
In the 19 northern states of the country, the Penal Code of Nigeria applies . According to an article in the 2007 and 2008 volume of the University of Ilorin Law Journal, the Penal Code criminalises the act of representing oneself as a witch, accusing another person of witchcraft, possessing any juju, drug or charm for use in witchcraft rituals, and invoking “unlawful” juju (Etudaiye 2007 and 2008, 4, note 14). It also reportedly criminalises trial by ordeal, cannibalism, and the u According to Leadership, the number of unsolved cases of ritual murder is “troubling” (30 Apr. 2012). The Punch indicates that many victims of ritual killings disappear and are never found (10 Aug. 2012). Newspapers report that, in December 2011, a man was sentenced to death in Kano for killing and beheading a woman in 1992 as reported by the Nigerian Tribune of 7th December 2011, and the Vanguard of 7th December 2011. The murder was reportedly performed for ritual purposes.
Sources report that a former information commissioner of Jigawa State was convicted in January 2010 of the ritual killing of two children and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, he was reportedly acquitted in 2012 due to “lack of direct evidence or proof” unlawful possession of a human head.
The Nigerian government ought to make the law and order guiding the punishment of cannibals and ritualists more efficient and enforced as there would be no mercy for a murderer or human eater.
