Badoo is an application on social media. It is an online dating site for those who may find it difficult to get the love
of their lives in real life. Although some users of the medium might
have abused it, its inventors like those who invented Facebook, Twitter,
Viber and Snapchat, among other social media applications, do have good
intentions for bringing their application online to be a player in
social media circles.
Unfortunately, the name of that
particular social application brand has been hijacked and bastardized by
a group of deadly cultists/ritualists which has been prowling and
terrorizing the residents of Ikorodu and some parts of Lagos metropolis
for several months, if not a year now.
It started as if it was the kind of gang
wars that the people of Lagos, especially those residing in Mushin,
Bariga, Shomolu, and Oshodi Local Government Areas, were
used to. But before long, this group of bad boys veered into
full-fledged armed–robbery operations. And, the brutality with which
they attacked their victims made them to be deadlier than the Boko Haram
terrorists operating mainly in the Northeast, and engaging the Nigerian
military in full–blown war for the past five or six years before their
fighting capacity was recently downgraded–but not yet defeated.
The Badoo cultists/ritualists are considered deadlier than Boko Haram terrorists because they reportedly kill their victims in a crude and horrific manner, using millstones (the one popularly known as omo olo ata
in Yoruba language and used for grinding pepper, beans, melon seeds and
some grains manually). And, in most of their operations, they aimed to
exterminate or wipe off the whole family of their unfortunate targets.
Afterwards, they allegedly used white handkerchiefs
to wipe the blood of their victims. In most cases, the belongings of
their victims were left intact. According to some reports, each of the
blood – stained handkerchiefs were sold for as much as N500,000 for
ritual purposes. Credence was lent to this story when a traditional
ruler (baale) and a shrine operator /priest were reportedly arrested in
connection with the operations of the Badoo cultists in their area.
And, as if that was not enough, another
traditional ruler (baale) and his younger brother were arrested by the
Lagos State Government for faking their own kidnap, just to embarrass
the authorities and extort money from the Government while facilitating
their rescue from the stage-managed kidnap, before their secrets were
let out.
Despite the frantic efforts of the Lagos
Government, the Lagos Police Command and other sister security agencies,
the Badoo boys have reportedly spread the tentacles of their operations
to some parts of Lagos metropolis when they reportedly killed two young
lovers in Ketu/Ojota areas. Some unconfirmed reports also indicate that
they have now gone mobile in their operations by operating through danfo buses otherwise called ‘one chance’ in Lagos.
This, they do, by posing as normal
passengers and public transport operators to catch their unsuspecting
victims before they drive them to their dens. Funny enough, such dens
may not be located in some remote areas or in the thick forests. Some of
them may be located along the highways within our urban centres.
Only last week, no fewer than three
ritualists’ dens were discovered along Lagos–Abeokuta highway within the
Lagos metropolis. One was discovered by a highway manager/sweeper when
she heard the cries of a woman crying for help under a tunnel located
in the Ile-Epo Zik bus stop along Lagos – Abeokuta highway. Through the
grace of God, the victim was rescued while two of her predators were
lynched before the arrival of the Police who took the other three members of the deadly gang into their custody.
Still within the Lagos metropolis,
another kidnappers/ritualists’ den was discovered when a disguised mad
woman turned out to be a kidnapper sitting on a refuse–dump. When her
secret was let out, a big man–hole was actually in the middle of the
refuse–dump that was actually littered with the footwear and other
personal effects of people that had fallen victim to their deadly attacks.
Nobody knows whether it is our wrong
value system that is responsible for this get-rich-quick syndrome among
our youths. This is a situation where our society measures achievements
by the number of exotic cars a person drives or the number of mansions
built by some questionable characters without verifying the sources(s)
of such persons’ wealth. Such characters would even be recognised with
the awards of chieftaincy titles in their communities or given exalted
positions in some religious circles once they are able to buy their way
into the hearts of gullible traditional and religious leaders.
The other major reason kidnappers or
ritualists are prowling our streets may be that their patrons are
ambitious politicians or business tycoons who are seeking for powers by
all means- whether diabolical or godly. As far as these crazy
power–seekers are concerned, the end justifies the means even if human
lives are involved or sacrificed to achieve their selfish aims or their
inordinate ambitions. And, as we approach the general elections in
2019, these bad elements with their patrons may want to step up their
activities, except our security operatives mount very stiff resistance
to checkmate them.
This is one area where community policing
may be very useful. Nigerian Police Force personnel or other security
operatives may not know the local terrains and the different characters
in their Areas of Responsibility (AOR), hence
the need for them to partner with the personnel of the proposed
community police to achieve the common purpose of securing lives and
property wherever they are posted to.
This has been demonstrated by the kind of
support that our military has been receiving from members of Local
Civilian Joint–Task Force (CJTF) whose members have been collaborating
with the soldiers in their war against the Boko–Haram jihadists,
especially in the areas of information/intelligence gathering on
Boko–Haram militants .
Olakunle is General Secretary, National Prayer Movement
And to properly secure our streets,
neighbourhoods and highways, there is the need for governments at both
federal and state levels to assist in crime prevention (especially
kidnapping for whatever purposes) by providing functional Close–Circuit
Television Cameras (CCTV) and regularly analyse images from them with a
view to sending signals to security patrol teams to prevent crime.
More importantly, our society should
revert to our old value-system where achievements are recognized through
verifiable means in contributing to the development of the communities
and not those who do drugs or engage in other vices like kidnapping,
rituals, prostitution and looting of government treasuries, just to buy themselves positions of ‘honour’
in our societies or religious circles. If we ignore these questionable
money-bags and refuse to worship them, their propensity to engage in
crime will be drastically reduced.
After all, a man who has a fleet of cars
cannot ride in them at the same time. Same goes for a person who has a
big mansion with 10 or more luxurious rooms cannot sleep on more than
one bed in a night. If he does, such a person may need the attention of a
psychiatric doctor or he may need to go for a deliverance session. And
so, all these display of opulence or ill-gotten wealth are just for
show–offs which our society must discourage through admonitions and
sermons from our religious leaders and opinion/traditional leaders for
us to live in a crime – free society like Norway or Netherlands, where
the jail-houses are reportedly virtually empty.
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