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Police Blame Hookup for Ritual Killings, Disappearances of Girls
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The Nigerian Police Force has said that most cases of missing young ladies and girls being used for ritual purposes in Nigeria are connected to the prevalent hookup culture sweeping across the country.
The Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Command, Omolola Odutola, who was a special guest on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Wednesday, to discuss the topic ‘Hookup Culture: Impact on Youth Values and Relationships’, said young girls and ladies within the age range of 20 and 32 fall victim of the menace.
The Hookup culture encourages and accepts casual sexual encounters, such as one-night stands, without necessarily involving emotional bonding or long-term commitment.
The idea of casual, non-romantic sexual encounters has been around since the 1920s.
Some social critics argue that hooking up is a feminist achievement, while others worry that it is a step backwards for healthy, intimate relationships.
The hookup culture can also be gendered, with women being judged by a different standard than men. For example, women who hook up with too many people or go too far in the first hook-up are often judged by terms like “hoe”.
“This particular menace is very serious and I would like a lot of young people to understand the danger in the hookup culture.
“Today, we have lots of reports of missing persons. By the time we start an investigation, not less than 10 young girls and ladies go missing daily.
“In-depth investigations also reveal that those cases are not by accidents. Most of them are connected to hookup channels and apps. They fall victim to strangers who causally invite them to unknown places, and eventually fall victim to being used for ritual purposes,” she said.
She added that most young persons, especially males believe that ritual killings can make them get rich.
‘Most cases of missing girls and ritual killings occurring in Ogun state of recent, I would like to say that it is not new. But as much as possible, the Ogun state commissioner of police has been able to tame these ugly incidents.
It stems from the ugly perspective of young persons who believe that ritual killing could enrich them. We have some of these unscrupulous elements who deceive young people to get human skulls or human body parts, which they use for some kind of concoction to get them rich.
“That is why we are having advocacy and sensitization, to enlighten young persons to make them understand that engaging in ritual killings does not in any way make them rich,” she said.
According to her, the police command is working closely with the Women Affairs Commission of the state to stem the menace in the tide.
“The Ogun State government, particularly the Women Affairs Commission works in tandem with the police command by providing counselling sessions.
“Apart from that, whenever we have cases such as this if per adventure the girls escape the rituals, we also have a proper way of helping them go through the distress of mental health and anxiety they might have felt during the incident.
“The hookup culture is prevalent among young girls between the ages of 20 to about 32 years. The reason they get involved in this menace is because they feel they don’t get enough from their parents, and then the get-rich syndrome,” she said.
A Development expert, Dorothy Njemanze who also joined the conversation from Abuja, urged the Nigerian Police to provide full security and encourage the reporting culture to deal with the crime.
“A lot of the predatory trends that we see have existed in the society all along. But instead of tackling them headlong, we make excuses and try to guilt-trip people. If you stay in your house, harm can happen to you. You go out, harm can happen to you. A lot of healthy marriages in Nigeria happen through hookups. We are expected to meet people irrespective of how it happened, especially when we are adults.
“But my concern is that the predation system extends to children. A lot of children are being lured through the predation system. Every state needs to have a mandatory reporting system so that when suspicious movements are seen, such activities can be reported. And then for law enforcement, when people report things to you, and you are lax and expect people to write petitions and ply certain routes before you can take action, then there is a problem.
“The proactiveness of law enforcement agencies is what we bank on.
Bad people plan very well, to gain the trust of who they want to harm to minimise chances of their victims raising alarm for them to be caught.
“I heard the policewoman talking about people going to parties. And I also read about a lady killed by her pastor in the church. So it could be anybody.
“Whatever the dimension that bad people choose to operate, the law enforcement should be able to ready to swoop in and ensure that there is minimal to no damage done, and then the mandatory reporting culture of the society is one thing that can help to minimise these things.
“As long as we can’t control what adults do among each other, we can minimize such occurrences because the hookup culture affects both men and women, but more among the women. There is more pressure on men to have resources that can make them look like big men. But make sure as much as possible whenever you are going out, somebody knows where you are going,” she said.
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The Court of Appeal has inaugurated 375 judges for election petition tribunals across the country ahead of the 2027 general elections, setting in motion preparations for the adjudication of electoral disputes that may arise from the polls.
President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, inaugurated the judges on Monday at the Body of Benchers Complex in Abuja, coming 68 days before the 2027 general elections.
The tribunals will hear and determine petitions arising from elections into the National and State Houses of Assembly, as well as governorship elections, in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Speaking at the inauguration, Dongban-Mensem said the exercise represents an important institutional step towards safeguarding constitutional democracy, upholding the rule of law and preserving the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral process.
She stressed that the responsibility of the judiciary extends beyond the formal determination of disputes, noting that the manner in which election petitions are handled has significant implications for public confidence in democratic governance.
“This gathering is more than a ceremonial event; it is an important institutional preparation for one of the most consequential responsibilities entrusted to the judiciary,” she said.
Dongban-Mensem maintained that the credibility of democratic institutions depends not only on the conduct of elections but also on the availability of impartial and effective judicial mechanisms for resolving disagreements over electoral outcomes.
“The credibility of democracy depends not only on the conduct of elections but also on the existence of impartial, effective, and timely mechanisms for resolving electoral disputes,” she added.
She further explained that the judiciary’s responsibility in electoral matters is central to ensure that the outcome of democratic contests is subjected to lawful scrutiny whenever challenged.
“Through the fair determination of such disputes, the Judiciary safeguards the people’s mandate, upholds constitutional supremacy and sustains public confidence in democratic governance,” Dongban-Mensem noted.
Providing a breakdown of the tribunal membership, Dongban-Mensem disclosed that the 375 judges were nominated from various courts and judicial institutions across the country.
She said 138 of the judges are returning members who had previously served on election petition tribunals, while 237 are newly nominated.
“Of this number, 138 are returning members with previous Tribunal experience, while 237 are newly nominated members,” she said.
The composition brings together judicial officers with previous experience in election petition proceedings and newly nominated members who will be participating in the tribunal process for the first time.
The Court of Appeal President urged the judges to approach their assignments with a strong sense of responsibility, reminding them that their conduct and decisions would attract considerable public scrutiny.
She cautioned them, in particular, to remain mindful of the significance of their judicial responsibilities in determining disputes capable of affecting the political fortunes of candidates and parties, as well as public confidence in the electoral process.
The tribunal judges are expected to discharge their duties in accordance with the Constitution and applicable electoral laws, ensuring that petitions brought before them receive fair and lawful consideration.
The inauguration is pursuant to the constitutional and statutory framework governing the establishment and operation of election petition tribunals in Nigeria.
Section 285(1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, vests in the President of the Court of Appeal the responsibility of constituting election petition tribunals to adjudicate disputes arising from National and State Houses of Assembly elections, as well as governorship elections.
Similarly, Section 134(3)(a) and (b) of the Electoral Act, 2026, prescribes timelines for constituting the tribunals and opening their registries.
These provisions establish the legal framework for the tribunals to commence operations and entertain petitions arising from the elections.
The inauguration of the 375 judges comes as the country prepares for the 2027 general elections, with the judiciary expected to play a critical role in resolving post-election disputes and determining challenges to electoral outcomes in accordance with the law.
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) governorship candidate in Lagos, Funso Doherty, has accused vested interests within the State’s informal transport sector of frustrating efforts to modernise public transportation.
Doherty made the remarks during the Lagos governorship debate on Friday organised by the Nigeria Debate Consortium comprising Channels Television, TVC News, The PUNCH, TheCable and Vanguard, where he criticised the continued reliance on ageing commercial buses and the influence of the agbero system in the State’s transport sector.
He questioned why successive administrations had failed to modernise public transportation despite the thousands of rickety buses operating across Lagos.
“Our public transportation system is not modernised. Thousands of rickety buses are moving around. We must ask ourselves: are these what our people deserve? Why has it taken so long to modernise public transportation?” he asked.
The NDC candidate argued that the failure to reform the system is not accidental, alleging that powerful interests benefit from the existing arrangement.
“In my opinion, the lack of modern transportation is not by accident. There are vested interests in operating the bus system the way it is. Many of us understand the agbero system; there is an ecosystem around it, and there is no political will to deal with that problem,” he said.
Doherty, who promised to overhaul the State’s public transportation system if elected, said his administration would not be beholden to informal transport networks.
“We would modernise public transportation because we would be elected by the people and not by the agbero network,” he added.
