Crime

Hunting down those who kill people to sell their body parts for ‘magic charms

“I was working with some big, big politicians in Guinea, Senegal and Nigeria. We have our team. Sometimes during election time, at night, this place is full of people.”

Published

7 months ago

November 24, 2025

OCHEFA

457 Views

• Picture of Papayo’s mother Sally Kalokoh / BBC.

With many families left traumatised by killings apparently linked to supposed magic rituals in Sierra Leone, BBC Africa Eye looks into those behind the trade in human body parts.

The mother of an 11-year-old boy murdered as part of a suspected black magic killing four years ago is devastated that no-one has yet been brought to justice for his death.

“Today I’m in pain.They killed my child and now there is just silence,” Sallay Kalokoh told BBC Africa Eye, explaining how her son Papayo was found with parts of his body removed, including his vital organs, eyes and one arm.

He had gone out to sell fish at the market and never came back.His family searched for him for two weeks – and finally found his mutilated corpse at the bottom of a well.

“We always tell our children to be careful. If you are selling, don’t go to a corner or take gifts from strangers. It happens frequently in this country,” Ms Kalokoh said.

This murder in my hometown of Makeni, in central Sierra Leone, has haunted me as we often hear of reports of killings linked to black magic, also known as juju, that are never followed up or properly investigated by the authorities.

In Papayo’s case, the police did not even confirm that it was a “ritual killing” – when a person is murdered so that parts of their body can be used in so-called magic rituals by illicit juju practitioners.

They promise things like prosperity and power to clients who pay large sums in the false belief that human body parts can make such charms more potent

.But with the authorities severely under-resourced – there is only one pathologist in a country that has a population of 8.9 million – it is often impossible to gather the evidence needed to track down the culprits.

Belief in witchcraft is also so deeply ingrained in Sierra Leone, even among many police officers, that there is often a fear of pursuing cases further – and most go unsolved.

Our BBC Africa Eye team was able to find two people who claimed they were juju practitioners and offered to obtain body parts for ritual purposes.

Both said they were part of much larger networks – and one boasted that he had powerful clients across West Africa.

The BBC was unable to verify these claims.

One member of our team went undercover, using the name Osman, to pose as a politician who wanted to achieve power through human sacrifice.

We first travelled to a remote area of Kambia district, in the north of the country near the Guinean border, to meet the juju man in his secret shrine – an area in dense bush where he consulted with his clients.

“When Osman specified that he wanted limbs from a woman to be used in a ritual, Kanu got down to business: “The price of a woman is 70m leones [£2,500; $3,000].”

Calling himself Kanu, he wore a ceremonial red mask covering his whole face to conceal his identity and boasted of his political connections.

“I was working with some big, big politicians in Guinea, Senegal and Nigeria. We have our team. Sometimes during election time, at night, this place is full of people,” he claimed.

Election season is regarded by some as a particularly dangerous time when parents have been warned to take special care of their children because of the heightened risk of abductions.

On a second visit, Kanu became more confident and showed Osman what he said was evidence of his trade – a human skull.

“You see this? This belongs to someone. I dried it for them. It is a woman’s skull. I am expecting the person to pick this up today or tomorrow.”

He also pointed to a pit behind his shrine:

“This is where we hang human parts. We slaughter here, and the blood goes down there… Even big chiefs, when they want power, come here. I give them what they want.

“When Osman specified that he wanted limbs from a woman to be used in a ritual, Kanu got down to business: “The price of a woman is 70m leones [£2,500; $3,000].”

Anxious not to put anyone at risk, we did not meet Kanu again. He may have been a scammer, but we handed over our evidence to the local police to investigate further.

Such juju men sometimes refer to themselves as herbalists, the name given to healers who use traditional medicine often made from local plants to treat common illnesses.

Crime

BREAKING: Court Grants Sowore N200 Million Bail, With Fresh Conditions

Published

3 days ago

June 30, 2026

Charles Flames

51 Views

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday granted bail to online publisher and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, but imposed stringent fresh conditions for his release.

Justice Umar Mohammed ruled that Sowore must provide two sureties, each executing a ₦200 million bail bond. One of the sureties must be a traditional ruler from Sowore’s community in Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State, while the second surety must own landed property within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Sowore is also required to surrender his international passport to the court’s deputy registrar for safekeeping. The court further directed that both sureties must be verified by counsel to the prosecution, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN.

The ruling comes after Sowore’s absence from court proceedings. On June 16, 2026, Justice Umar revoked the self-recognisance bail earlier granted to Sowore in December and issued a bench warrant for his arrest over allegations of cybercrime and criminal defamation.

Last Tuesday, the judge ordered that Sowore be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the determination of his motion seeking a stay of execution of the revocation order and bench warrant. The court also dismissed Sowore’s application requesting that the judge recuse himself from the trial on grounds of alleged bias.

The Department of State Services (DSS) is prosecuting Sowore over alleged criminal defamation stemming from social media posts on his official X and Facebook accounts in which he reportedly referred to President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal.”

Sowore’s lead counsel, R.O. Adakole, appealed to the court to release his client to him temporarily to enable the retrieval of Sowore’s passport from the US Embassy in Lagos.

Justice Umar adjourned the matter to July 6, 2026, for the continuation of hearing.

Crime

Lagos NSCDC Parades Five Suspected Vandals, Two Foreigners From Togo

Published

3 days ago

June 30, 2026

Charles Flames

55 Views

.….As Army recovers stolen armoured cables, other Exhibits.

The State Commandant , Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps ( NSCDC ), Lagos State Command , Mr Adedotun Keshinro , fnarc, today, Monday, 29th June , 2026 has paraded seven ( 7 ) male suspects between the ages of twenty seven ( 27 ) years to forty four ( 44 ) years old involved in various forms of crimes ranging from vandalism of critical national assets and infrastructure such as ; armoured cables , transformer cables , stealing of eight ( 8 ) lithium batteries and RRU inverter, which occured at various locations in the state .

Other suspects paraded today, include three ( 3 ) Togolese, male, aged 32 and 27 each, who deserted the Togolese Army and were apprehended around the Badagry axis of Lagos State .

While briefing the media, today, Monday, at the State Command’s Headquarters in Alausa, the Lagos State Commandant, said that following consistent community engagements with stakeholders in the state, the Command received credible intelligence through the Okun Ajah Community and Proton Security Ltd and responded swiftly leading to the arrest of two ( 2 ) male suspects at 1451HRS, on Saturday, 27th June , 2026 involved in the vandalism of MTN armoured cables.

The vandalized armoured cables were recovered with a shuttle bus popularly known as korepe with the plate number MUS109YH ( Benue State ).

The Command is still on the trail of 2 suspects, who are currently at large but connected to the vandalism of the armoured cables worth millions of Naira and will not rest on its oarse until they are also apprehended, prosecuted and convicted through the instrumentality of the court if found culpable.

In the ongoing efforts of the Command to take out vandals off the state, on Friday , 26th June , 2026, another male suspect was arrested by the Command’s operatives in Sogunle for vandalizing transformer cables .

Also another male suspect was apprehended at 1600HRS on Saturday, 15th June, 2026 for stealing eight ( 8 ) lithium batteries at Orchid road in Lekki . Further Investigation has been launched into the matter to apprehend others who are at large.

The theft of RRU inverter cable by another male suspect, who was arrested on 7th April , 2026 in Banana Island was also established to be currently undergoing prosecution accordingly.

The parade also comprised of three Togolese brothers , who deserted the Togolese Army and were found and apprehended by the Badagry operatives of the Command .

The Command has taken appropriate steps to hand the deserted Togolese Army personnel to the appropriate agency of government for further investigation .

Other suspects arrested by the Badagry operatives of the Command and linked to illegal migration have been handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service, Lagos State Command for further investigation .

The Lagos State Commandant has once again seized this opportunity to warn vandals to desist from their dastardly act of economic sabotage , which brings harshness, hardness, agony and strain upon the innocent citizens or face the full weight of the law .

Crime

Police arrest 10 suspects over killing of Benue Miyetti Allah’s chairman

The MACBAN chairman and Yakubu Isa were reportedly ambushed and killed at Okudu community in Otukpo LGA on Friday, June 26, 2026 by armed men, while returning from a peace meeting called by the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in the Idekpa, Ohimini LGA.

Published

5 days ago

June 28, 2026

OCHEFA

57 Views

The Benue State Police Command has declared that it arrested 10 suspects in connection with the killing of the Chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in Benue State, Ardo Risku Mohammed, and one Yakubu Isa.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Udeme Edet, confirmed the arrest, emphasing that the arrests marked significant progress in the investigation into the attack.

The suspects were apprehended on the night of June 27, 2026, during a coordinated operation by the Command’s tactical teams in Otukpo Local Government Area, following what police described as intensive intelligence gathering and tactical operations.

According to him, the suspects arrested were 25-year-old Titus Thyodenda, 20-year-old Utibe Sam, 18-year-old Owoicho Ameh, 21-year-old Sunday Useni, 46-year-old Sunday Useni, 46-year-old Sunday Ogbanje, 23-year-old Daniel Raphael, 24-year-old Adokole John, 32-year-old Samuel Ogazi, 25-year-old Agbo Daniel, and 30-year-old Onazi James.