Niger Police Arrest Five Over Alleged Plot to Sacrifice Biological Children for Wealth

Niger Police Arrest Five Over Alleged Plot to Sacrifice Biological Children for Wealth

 

The Niger State Police Command has arrested five suspects, including four fathers accused of offering their biological children for money rituals in exchange for wealth.

 

The suspects were reportedly apprehended while allegedly preparing to perform a money ritual at an isolated compound in the Garima area of Bosso, Minna, following an intelligence report received by police operatives.

 

The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Wasiu Abiodun, disclosed this in a statement issued in Minna, saying the operation was carried out on October 27, 2026, at about 8:30pm.

 

According to him, operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, while on routine patrol around Bosso, received information about suspected ritual activities taking place at an isolated compound in Garima.

 

The officers reportedly stormed the location and arrested five men, identified as Mohammed Idris Dogara, 57, from Nasarawa State but residing in Bosso; Aliyu Sule, 25; Abubakar Abdullahi, 40, both of New Garima; Ibrahim Mohammed Hamisu, 43; and Shehu Abubakar, 40, a native doctor from Maikunkele.

 

Items recovered from the scene included blood-stained red and white clothing, four calabashes, two live chickens, three slaughtered chickens, a blood-stained knife and a large mat on which the suspected ritual materials were arranged.

 

The police said preliminary investigations revealed that four of the suspects — Ibrahim, Abubakar, Aliyu and Mohammed — had approached the native doctor to perform money rituals for them using a human skeleton allegedly discovered during mining activities.

 

However, the native doctor reportedly declined their request, insisting that he did not offer such services.

 

The four men allegedly persisted and offered their biological children as sacrifices in exchange for different sums of money.

 

Following their insistence, the native doctor reportedly instructed each of them to procure a chicken and meet at a designated location for the ritual.

 

The police said the suspects were arrested while allegedly carrying out the activities. Aliyu Sule was reportedly found holding a blood-stained knife and preparing to slaughter his chicken, while three other suspects had already slaughtered theirs.

 

The command added that the suspects had confessed to the allegations and were undergoing further investigation before being charged to court.

 

Meanwhile, the police statement did not disclose the identities or ages of the children allegedly offered for the ritual, or whether they had been located and placed under protective care.

 

It also remained unclear whether any of the children had been exposed to immediate danger or whether the alleged ritual had progressed beyond the slaughtering of the chickens.

 

The circumstances surrounding the alleged discovery of the human skeleton and its intended use in the ritual were also not fully explained by the police.