The Nation Newspaper

Tag: herbalists

  • Herbalists remanded for being in possession of coffin

    An Ilorin Magistrates’ Court on Friday ordered that two herbalists be remanded in prison for allegedly being in possession of a coffin wrapped with white cloth which contained dangerous charms prepared for money ritual.

    The police charged Adewole Bashiru and Owuoade Olabisi with being in possession of criminal charms and Advance fee Fraud.

    Magistrate Aminat Shittu who ordered that Bashiru and Olabisi be remanded in Okekura Prison Yard, Ilorin, adjourned the case until April 12 for further mention.

    The Police Prosecutor, Insp. Sanni Abdullahi informed the court that the accused persons were arrested with in a Mazda car with registration number LND 451 CF with a coffin on Unity road, Ilorin.

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    Abdullahi also said that the two calabashes were filled with black soap, cowries and other fetish charms were seized from the accused.

    He said that during interrogation, the accused persons confessed that they “prepared” the coffin for their customer, Wabi Amodu who paid N3.3 million.

    The offence, he said, contravened the provisions of sections 97 and 217 of the Penal Code Law and Sections 3(1) of Advance fee Fraud and Other related Offences 2006.

    After the charges were to them, they pleaded not guilty.

    Abdullahi, then prayed the court to remand the accused persons in prison custody pending the outcome of investigation.

  • Herbalists using vulgar languages on us, residents cry out

    Residents of Kaduna metropolis have decried the use of vulgar language by traditional medicine sellers (herbalists) while marketing their products.

    In separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Sartuday, the residents expressed their disgust.

    One of the residents, Malam Musa Goro, who resides at Tudun Wada, regretted that the herbalists used obscene language to advertise their products.

    “The words which these traditional medicine sellers use in advertising their products are very immoral, irreligious and contrary to any cultural styles.

    “Honestly, these words are also offensive to the moral, religious and cultural lifestyles of responsible people ,” he said.

    However, Rabiu Muhammad, a resident of kinkinau, said the herbalists further used public address systems to say all sorts of offensive words to the hearing of everyone, not considering the ages and calibre of the audience.

    “These people shamelessly use microphone to say all these words in the presence of children, women and the elderly persons; these are against our cultural beliefs.

    “Honestly, they must be regulated by the appropriate authorities,” Muhammad said.

    Malam Zakariyya Usman, a cleric, says the herbalists usually take advantage of places where Friday congregational prayers are performed.

    “It is unfortunate that those herbalists advertise their products even in places of worship; we always preach in sermons about bad utterances and their consequences in the hereafter.

    “Every human must account for his words on the judgement day, it’s better to keep mute than speaking vulgar.

    Those herbalists should be regulated by the appropriate authorities; we have done our part”, Usman said.

    Another resident, Abdullahi Bala, told NAN that the activities of the herbalists were in conflict with norms and values of conscious people.

    READ ALSO: Ritual killings: Police declare war on herbalists, others

    Bala noted that the words being used by the herbalists were unacceptable.

    “We send our children on errand to all these spots where these people sell their products.

    “And as children, there are some words or utterances they are not supposed to be hearing at their age, so religiously and culturally, this is not a good development at all.

    “They even go further to use loudspeakers for advertising the herbal medicines and our parents and wives clearly hear all these bad languages they use.

    That is very bad to the upbringing of our children,’’ he lamented.

    Some of the vulgar utterances are usually related to sexual matters, depicting obscene ways of taking to illegal conjugal affairs.

    The residents, therefore, called on concerned authorities to check the excesses of the herbalists as well as regulate their activities.

    “This, they said, would assist in promoting and inculcating good cultural values in children.

  • Ritual killings: Police declare war on herbalists, others

    The Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police in-charge of Zone II, Lawal Shehu, yesterday declared war on herbalists and human part dealers in Lagos and Ogun states.

    The action followed a spate of ritual killings and exhumation of bodies at graveyards and other places.

    Lamenting the involvement of young people in ritual activities, Shehu said each time the suspects were apprehended, they usually claimed they were herbalists, adding that some native doctors were aiding and abetting the practice.

    “If they are herbalists what are they doing with human parts? These ones we arrested on December 3, about 8:30pm, were found with human skull.

    “We received information that Jimoh Adeola of Muslim Cemetery, Oke Yadi, Abeokuta, Ogun State was in possession of human parts and has been dealing in such for a long time.

    “Detectives of the Zonal Intervention Squad (ZIS) were detailed to investigate. Five suspects were arrested and exhibits recovered. Others nabbed are Lukmon Bayewunmi, Kabir Badmus, Victor Nnacheta and Nurudeen Sogaolu.

    “Dried human jaw and scalp were recovered from them. They will be arraigned soon.

    “This is a warning to criminals and those aiding them. Whether they are ritualists, militants or robbers, we have been instructed to drive them out of this zone. We are in collaboration with the Lagos and Ogun police commands as well as vigilance groups.

    “We have launched a strategy to go after all those who call themselves herbalists, but are ritualists. If they can go to the graves to exhume bodies and dismember them, they can as well do same to human beings. We will not tolerate any crime. This is why during the two weeks I have held sway, we have recorded a lot of achievements.”

    Nnacheta, 20, said he paid a native doctor N250,000 to perform ritual for him so that he would become a billionaire.

    Badmus, an Islamic cleric also contacted by Nnacheta for money ritual, said he knew him through one Gabriel, adding that the young man told him he was into football betting and wanted to become a billionaire.

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    Badmus said: “They called me and explained his (Nnacheta’s) problem and I told them to come to Abeokuta. I gave him three options. The first was that I would prepare concoction for him so that when he drank it, his business would boom. The second option was to give him a soap bought that he would pray on, while the third was to prepare a fresh soap for him, which would require those items. One of the soaps was made using human skull and a bird called “Eiye Oge.”

    “I got the skull for N50,000 from a mortuary attendant. He brought them to me. It was the mortuary attendant’s wife who called me that brought Alfa to his house. Within two hours, police arrived my house and arrested me.

    “I was still contemplating what to do when they arrived. What I wanted to do for Nnacheta is called ‘ransu’. He did not choose anyone. He allowed me to choose an option for him. I have not done this before. The job does not bring wealth; it is called ‘awure’ in Yoruba language.”

     

     

  • Court arraigns herbalists for alleged N20m fraud

    An Ilorin Magistrates’ Court yesterday remanded two herbalists for allegedly defrauding Rahaman Ogundele of N20 million, under the pretence of providing spiritual solution to his ailing business.

    Chief Magistrate Kudirat Yahya ordered the accused, Toyin Olawoyin and Rasaq Ayuba, remanded at the Mondala Prison in Ilorin till May 31, the next adjourned date.

    The defendants are facing a four-count charge of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating and intimidation.

    Prosecuting Inspector Mathew Ologbonsaye told the court the accused conspired with five others at large to hypnotise the victim and defrauded him of N20 million.

    Ologbonsaye said the defendants collected the money under the pretence of helping the victim to spiritually revive his business.

    “But immediately the accused collected the money from the victim April last year, they took him to a shrine, where he was threatened.

    “They threatened him not to tell anyone about what transpired between them or he will die,’’ he said.

    The offences contravene sections 97, 312, 322 and 309 of the Penal Code.

  • Residents decry foul language by herbalists

    Residents decry foul language by herbalists

    Residents of Dutse Local Government Area of Jigawa have decried the use of foul language by traditional medicine sellers (herbalists) marketing their products.

    A cross section of residents expressed their disgust in interviews with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse on Saturday.

    Malam Yusif Ibrahim regretted that the herbalists used vulgar language to advertise their products.

    “The words which these traditional medicine sellers use in advertising their products are very immoral, irreligious and contrary to our cultural styles.

    “Honestly, these words are also offensive to the moral, religious and cultural lifestyles of the people of this area and state generally,” Ibrahim said.

    Another resident, Malam Ahmad Nasir, noted that the herbalists use public address systems to blare offensive words to everyone, not considering the age and calibre of the audience.

    “These people shamelessly use microphone to say all these words in the presence of children, women and the elderly persons; they are against our cultural belief.

    “Honestly they must be regulated by the appropriate authorities,” Nasir said.

    One of the residents, Alhaji Ahmad Rufa’i, told NAN that the activities of the herbalists conflict with the norms and values of the people in the area.

    Rufa’i said that the words being used by the herbalists are unacceptable to residents.

    “We send our children on errand to all these spots where these people sell their products. And as children, there are some words or utterances they are not supposed to be hearing at their age, so religiously and culturally, this is not good development at all.

    “They even go further to use microphones for advertising the herbal medicines and our parents and wives clearly hear all these bad languages they use, and that is very bad to the upbringing of our children,’’ he lamented.

    The residents, therefore, called on concerned authorities to check the excesses of the herbalists as well as regulate their activities.

    This, they said, would assist in promoting and inculcating good cultural values in children and other citizens in the area.