Residents of Ado-Ekiti in Ekiti State have rescued a seven-year-old boy named Jomiloju after his 23-year-old uncle attempted to use him as a sacrifice for a money ritual.
The suspect, identified as Fabiyi Solomon, confessed in a viral video that he planned to use Jomiloju for a ritual to gain wealth.
He said: “My name is Fabiyi Solomon. I am 23 years old. I am from Ayedun, Kwara State. I was born in Ado Ekiti. My parents are at home. I came here to do a money ritual. I was told to bring someone for the sacrifice and I told them I have a younger brother and they said I should bring him.
“I want to use my ‘brother’ for money rituals. They told me he will not die. But they told me he will be sick. I promised that I would be taking care of him. His name is Jomiloju. He is my sister’s son. He is seven years old.”
The disturbing incident highlights the growing trend of ritual killings in Nigeria, where individuals, often influenced by promises of instant wealth, resort to using human sacrifices.
As economic hardship deepens in Nigeria, cases of ritual killings continue to rise, fuelled by misinformation and the lure of quick money.
In a similar incident, the Nigeria Police Force on Tuesday arraigned an Islamic cleric in Ilorin, Abdulrahman Mohad (Mohammed Bello) and four others for allegedly killing a final-year student of Kwara State College of Education, Lawal Hafsoh Yetunde, for ritual purposes.
SaharaReporters learned that the suspect reportedly lured Hafsoh after connecting with her on Facebook and obtaining her phone number.
The incident reportedly occurred on Monday, February 10, 2025.
It was gathered that Hafsoh was attending a naming ceremony when she received a phone call from a friend.
However, she left her food to answer the call and then disappeared.
Family members and friends searched for her in vain before reporting her disappearance to the police at the Oja Oba Station in Ilorin the following day.
Meanwhile, police investigators used her phone records to trace her last call, leading them to Ballo, who resides in the Offa Garage area of Ilorin, though his family house is in Isalekoto.
In multiple videos seen on Tuesday afternoon, SaharaReporters saw the cleric being brought before a Magistrate Court in Ilorin. He was arraigned together with four others who were accused of aiding him to commit the murder.
Those arrested by the police include: 41-year-old Islamic scholar Ahmed Abulwasiu, from Adualere in Ilorin; 28-year-old Neo Life business person, Sulaiman Muhydeen, from Amilegbe in Ilorin; 29-year-old phone repairer, Jamiu Uthman, from Adualere in Ilorin; and 31-year-old farmer, AbdulRahman Jamiu, from Elemere, Malete.
The police, in their First Information Report, said Abdulrahman and the four others belong to the same occult group and confessed to robbing and killing the lady for ritual purposes.
However, Abdulrahman was heard saying in one of the videos that he was the only one who killed the college student.
He said: “I am the only one that killed her. These other people are not there.”