Assessment of Ritual Killing and Its Connection to Political Activities in Anambra State

Ritual killing linked to political ambitions and money rituals has been documented across Nigerian states, with Anambra State reporting a disproportionate number of cases, raising urgent criminological questions about the intersection of cultural beliefs, political impunity, and homicide. This study assessed the prevalence, patterns, and sociocultural drivers of ritual killings linked to political activities in Onitsha, Awka, and Nnewi, Anambra State, South East Nigeria. A qualitative descriptive design was employed, combining documentary analysis of court records and news media reports of 42 confirmed ritual killing cases from 2018 to 2023 with structured interviews with eight law enforcement officers and six community leaders. Thematic and documentary analysis was applied. Results showed that 57.1 percent of analysed cases had documented or suspected political links (candidates seeking electoral victory or political power). Human trafficking for body part harvesting was implicated in 35.7 percent of cases. Conviction rates were below 20 percent of prosecuted cases, attributable to witness intimidation and evidence destruction. Community silence driven by fear and complicity was identified as the primary prosecution barrier. Arrests concentrated among low-level perpetrators while alleged principal actors with political connections were rarely prosecuted. The study concludes that ritual killing represents a form of organised violent crime intersecting with political culture. Recommendations include witness protection programmes, strengthened forensic investigation, anti-impunity judicial reforms, and community education challenging ritual belief systems.

Keywords: ritual killing, political crime, Anambra State, homicide, criminal justice