Pre-election ritual killings in Gabon are on the rise, carried out by secret networks scavenging for blood or body parts in pursuit of boundless health, wealth, success and power, residents say.
"Unfortunately, this practice seems to be spreading again in Gabon," said Jean-Elvis Ebang Ondo, founder of the ALCR, the Association to Fight Ritual Crimes, since his 12-year-old son was kidnapped, killed and mutilated in 2005.
The ALCR and the Gabonese media claim such killings become more common in the weeks ahead of local elections, because candidates encourage sacrifices on their behalf. Ebang Ondo says there have been 12 ritual murders since last month.
Edang N'na Ralph of Makokou in northeast Gabon early this month became a 13-year-old victim of ritual crime ahead of municipal elections across the equatorial African country on April 27.
He was found strangled, almost bloodless, with holes in his genitals and breast bones, neck and feet. Sexual organs, eyes, ears, tongues, lips and bits of flesh are all considered sources of power.
"The child was hanged to make believe that he committed suicide," a health official in Ogooue-Ivindo province said. "But before that, his blood was drained. There's no doubt it was a ritual killing."
Local people in Makokou township asked for next month's elections to be postponed until the culprits are caught.
Ebang Ondo condemned what he described as a quick-fix practice used by power hungry politicians, who will never be arrested. He also said that once you get caught up in ritual killings, it is difficult to say no and back out.
"If someone does you a favor, you must follow orders and kill when you're asked to carry out a human sacrifice," Ebang Ondo said.
"You can't just choose anybody," Ebang Ondo explained. "The victim must be of quality," since the soul and the blood of the dead person were held to strengthen the beneficiary physically and mentally.
"Arrests are rare and those who are detained are never the ones who order the killings," he said, blaming people in office. "There are political orders to stop investigations."
Interior Minister Andre Mba Obame said he considered casualty tolls given by the ALCR and in the press exaggerated, though he admitted he had no precise figures.
"Crimes feed rumors. Every corpse found is subject to an investigation," the minister said. "People believe that every recovered body, battered by the sea or whatever, is the victim of a ritual crime."
MINERAL DEPOSITS: The Pacific nation is looking for new foreign partners after its agreement with Canada’s Metals Co was terminated ‘mutually’ at the end of last year Pacific nation Kiribati says it is exploring a deep-sea mining partnership with China, dangling access to a vast patch of Pacific Ocean harboring coveted metals and minerals. Beijing has been ramping up efforts to court Pacific nations sitting on lucrative seafloor deposits of cobalt, nickel and copper — recently inking a cooperation deal with Cook Islands. Kiribati opened discussions with Chinese Ambassador Zhou Limin (周立民) after a longstanding agreement with leading deep-sea mining outfit The Metals Co fell through. “The talk provides an exciting opportunity to explore potential collaboration for the sustainable exploration of the deep-ocean resources in Kiribati,” the government said
The head of Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, was sacked yesterday, days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he no longer trusts him, and fallout from a report on the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. “The Government unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to end ISA Director Ronen Bar’s term of office,” a statement said. He is to leave his post when his successor is appointed by April 10 at the latest, the statement said. Netanyahu on Sunday cited an “ongoing lack of trust” as the reason for moving to dismiss Bar, who joined the agency in 1993. Bar, meant to
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
The central Dutch city of Utrecht has installed a “fish doorbell” on a river lock that lets viewers of an online livestream alert authorities to fish being held up as they make their springtime migration to shallow spawning grounds. The idea is simple: An underwater camera at Utrecht’s Weerdsluis lock sends live footage to a Web site. When somebody watching the site sees a fish, they can click a button that sends a screenshot to organizers. When they see enough fish, they alert a water worker who opens the lock to let the fish swim through. Now in its fifth year, the
RSS