The Advocacy for Alleged Witches is outraged over the ritual killing and sacrifice of a six-year-old child, Muhammad Ibrahim Bulama, in Gombe Northern Nigeria. According to a statement posted on the Facebook page of the Gombe State Police Command, sometime in February, the grandfather of the victim noticed that Bulama was absent from the house and notified the relatives. And they started searching for him: “Sadly, the whereabouts of the child remained unknown not until on the 18th April 2025 at about 1100hrs, when a formal complaint was lodged by one Ibrahim Bulama, grandfather of the deceased, at Bojude Divisional Police Headquarters. The police arrested the following eight persons:
Magaji Adamu (Wazam), 45 years, of Bura-Bunga village via Bojude Babayo Musa, 18 years, of Bura-Bunga village via Bojude Jibrin Muhammad (Alias Ya’Haji), 40 years, of London Maidoruwa Quarters, Gombe Usman Abubakar Khalla, 37 years, of Tappi village Sadam Umaru, 28 years, of Tudun Wada Quarters, Gombe Idris Dayyabu, 45 years, of Kwami LGA, Gombe Abdulrauf Hussaini, 33 years, of Kwami village Isiyaku Muhammad, 39 years, of Dirri village via Bojude
Police investigations revealed the following: (a) Magaji Adamu “M” confessed to having received the victim from Babayo Musa and slaughtered him with a knife in the bush area of Wuro-Doya then further divided the body into two equal parts and dumped the upper half(from the waist upwards) into a well. Thereafter, the other half (from the waist downward) was handed over to Jibrin Muh’d and Usman Abubakar. (b) Babayo Musa confessed to abducting the victim at his grandfather’s house at about 1730hrs and aiding in the killing at Bura-Bunga village together with Magaji Adamu. (c) Jibrin Muhammad (Ya’Haji) “M” and Usman Abubakar “M” were arrested in Gombe town at London mai Doruwa. They confessed to having collected the lower part of the victim’s body together from Magaji Adamu and an accomplice identified as Gimba, who is currently at large. (d) Sadam Umaru “M” played a conspiratorial role by providing information on how to locate a native doctor and facilitated the procurement of human parts. (e) Idris Dayyabu “M” and Abdulrauf Hussaini “M” are the native doctors and they confessed to having asked for human parts to aid them in performing the ritual and took possession of the victim’s remains, removed flesh from the lower body, and buried the rest. (f) Isiyaku Muhammad was arrested for criminal conspiracy and concealment, having had full knowledge of the crime but failed to report it until he was implicated in the investigation.
Police sources noted that Gimba “M”, the father of the victim and the master minder of the killing was at large. The police should endeavor to arrest him this is a case of parental failure and viciousness. The police public relations officers in Gombe, DSP Buhari Abdullah, in a telephone call confirmed the incident to AfAW. He stated that suspects would be charged in court soon.
The Advocacy for Alleged Witches commends the police command in Gombe for intervening, and for arresting the suspects and perpetrators of this heinous crime. This case of ritual killing illustrates a decay of moral and family values. It is a stark reminder of the dark and horrific impact of ritual beliefs, and other misconceptions. Money ritual beliefs are baseless; they motivate people to commit atrocities.
Money ritual notions drive children to abduct and murder their parents or as in this case they make parents kill and sacrifice their children.
Ritual sacrifice is linked to religious and supernatural ideas of life. Traditional Religious, Christian, and Islamic doctrines sanction and sanctify child and human sacrifice. In the Christian holy book, Abraham almost sacrificed his son, as a demonstration of faith. Many believers see Abraham as a religious model to be emulated, not a moral delinquent who should be denounced.
AfAW reiterates that money ritual belief is a superstition and has no basis in reason, science, or reality. The Biblical story of Abraham sacrificing the child is a mythological account, that never happened, and an immoral and revulsive example that should not be emulated.
Many Nigerians and other Africans mistakenly believe that money ritual is a fact, as often portrayed in African movies and Nollywood films. They regard them as true life stories and indulge in ritual killing and sacrifice of other human beings.
Unfortunately, there is no evidence that money rituals or human sacrifices yield money as popularly believed. People indulge in ritual sacrifice. That is a fact. But ritual sacrifices do not yield money or wealth. This aspect of the belief is illusory.
State authorities should take measures to dispel superstitious beliefs in money rituals. AfAW enjoins Nigerians to shun occultic misconceptions and embrace science, skepticism, and critical thinking.
Leo Igwe directs the Advocacy for Alleged Witches.
