Ritual Killings: Traditional worshippers speak on the use of human parts for wealth

 

Traditional religion worshippers have stated that the Ifa oracle does not support the use of human parts to make wealth, stressing that no Yoruba deity was recorded to have used human beings or parts of their bodies for wealth.

The Ifa priests said worshippers would rather call on ‘Eledumare’ to bless whoever that sought wealth through them and whenever appeasements were to be done, simple items like sugarcane, salt, banana among others were used.

The Traditional Religion Worshippers Association, Oyo State Branch, stated this in a statement, on Tuesday, in addressing notions that Ifa priests were behind people doing rituals for money.

They said the upsurge in people using human parts for money rituals might not be unconnected with people using social media to display tons of cash, jewellery, posh automobiles and other material wealth.

The statement read: “We have to therefore put the record straight that Ifa oracle does not support the use of human parts to make wealth. Prayers can be offered for an individual who is engaged in a job for him to be prosperous.

“The world no longer has respect for our traditions, they think we are all guilty of human rituals, no history of Africa or Yoruba gave credence to wealth through the use of humans for rituals.

“We should lay much of the blame on the doorsteps of our leaders in the society, their display of wealth in the face of widespread poverty, where the majority of youths are jobless and the what belongs to the people are kept in the hands of a few, they are the major cause.”

The Ifa priests, who described money rituals as an insult to African tradition called on regulatory bodies to censor Nigerian movies (Nollywood) that project the use of human beings for money rituals.

“We are calling on the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgent cause, clamp down on Nigerians proclaiming to have the power of wealth through rituals on social media and other platforms. They should be brought to justice, we are the butt of ridicule all over the world today because those in power have failed to be proactive against this horrendous development.

“Our government went after Twitter the other time for whatever reason they claimed the platform was banned for.

“Today, TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms are being used by these people to escalate the rate of killings in our society as our young ones now believe it is easier to access wealth through rituals with human parts than doing diligent work, we call on the government to quickly work alongside the owners of the social media platforms to either ban those exhibiting such horrible contents on the platforms or make it totally impossible for the upload of such.

“We also call on all religious bodies to start working on mental reorientation of their congregations, no human society survives the slope we are descending, a nip in time, saves nine.”