Most missing girls cases and ritual killings in Nigeria are connected with hookups — Police

The Nigerian Police Force has said that many cases of missing young women and girls killed for money ritual purposes are connected to hookup culture sweeping across the country.

The spokesperson of Ogun State Command, SP Omolola Odutola, revealed this on Wednesday, December 4, 2024,  when she was featured on Channels Television’s Morning Brief.

Speaking during the discussion on “Hookup Culture: Impact on Youth Values and Relationships,” Odutola revealed that young girls and women within the age range of 20 to 32 are the most affected.

She added that many young people, especially males, believe that ritual k!llings are a way to become wealthy.

“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,” the PPRO stated. 

“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

“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.

She stated that the police command is collaborating closely with the State Women Affairs Commission to tackle and curb the menace.

“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.”