Ritual crime in West Africa

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Ritual crime in West Africa

Postby stefano » Wed Dec 04, 2013 3:33 am

I'm going to start dumping stories I come across from Nigeria, Ghana, Gabon and Benin here. Any other stories welcome.
___________
Police Smash Another Baby Factory In Imo

The Imo State Police Command, Monday [2 December 2013], smashed another baby-making factory in Egbu, near Owerri the State capital, arresting the proprietor, one Dr. James Ezuma who runs a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), and a clinic. The police also rescued 16 pregnant girls, including one whose two-hour old baby girl was sold without her knowledge.
...
Our reporter observed that the 16 pregnant girls were kept in two rooms that had no windows while repulsive odour oozed out from their rooms.

Speaking with journalists after rescuing the victims, the commissioner of police said, Dr. Ezuma, ”who has been very notorious for gun-running and trafficking of human beings, was eventually apprehended at his residence by the Command Ambush Squad on Tuesday 26th November, 2013 through credible intelligence.

He said the course of his arrest, search was conducted in his premises purportedly registered as an office for an NGO, which turned out to be a baby factory, where teenage girls are encouraged to get pregnant and take home the sum of N100,000 at delivery, on the condition that they would abandon their babies who would be eventually used for purposes ranging from child trafficking to rituals.

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Some of the pregnant teenage girls as they are being rescued by the police.
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He said the pregnant girls rescued in the premises of Dr. Ezuma were aged between 14 and 19 years, and that after further search was conducted, an automatic eight-loader pump action gun (which is prohibited) was found in his house. The CP stated that of major concern to his command was the fact that on November 24, 2013, one of the pregnant girls, Nnachi Chinaza from Ebonyi State, gave birth to a baby girl, who was immediately snatched away by the said Dr. Ezuma and sold to an unknown person. He said all efforts made by the police to find out the whereabout of the baby proved abortive, as according to him, the said suspect had persistently refused to lead the police to where he kept or sold the baby.

While he was not ruling out investigation, Mr. katsina said the presumption at the moment was that the said baby might have been used for ritual purposes.
...
Speaking to Journalists, one of the victims whose child was snatched from her, Miss Chinaza Nnachi said she was directed to come to the place by an aunt after her boyfriend denied her pregnancy. She said amidst tears, that though she was given N100,000 after delivery, on the promise that they would train her baby, but she never knew her baby would be sold to unknown persons even without her consent.
...
Other items recovered from the suspect include, 10 exotic cars of different models.
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Re: Ritual crime in West Africa

Postby stefano » Fri Mar 14, 2014 6:37 am

Police In Ogun Arrest Man With 18 Human Heads

Posted: Mar, 13 2014, 10:03AM

The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a man who was in possession of 18 human heads. The source of the heads was yet to be ascertained.

Policemen in the Ado-Odo Division in Ado–Odo Ota Local Government Area were patrolling Owode Road when they ran into the suspect, whose name was given as Adelani Ayomide.

Upon searching the man’s bag, a total of 18 human skulls were discovered, said the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police Olumuyiwa Adejobi.

“The suspect hails from Ilaro, the headquarters of Yewa South Local Government,” Mr. Adejobi said. He added that the suspect “will be transferred to the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Eleweran, Abeokuta for further investigations into the crime.”

Speaking on the gory matter, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Ikemefuna Okoye, promised that the case would be thoroughly investigated and that the suspect, if found culpable, would be made to face the full wrath of the law.

The commissioner also pleaded with the public to always assist the police in maintaining law and order in the state by volunteering useful information. In the specific case of the man arrested with human heads, the commissioner remarked that the police would need information that would lead to the arrest of any persons who may have collaborated with the suspect in harvesting the human heads.
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Re: Ritual crime in West Africa

Postby Pushkarev » Fri Mar 14, 2014 7:12 am

If you are looking for some primary source documentation on religions that are influenced by West African magic, there are a bunch of new books (part of the larger contemporary so-called "grimoire revival") published by a practicing occultist and anthropologist Nicholaj Frisvold. The books are:

    Palo Mayombe: The Garden of Blood and Bones.

    Exu: Exu and the Quimbanda of Night and Fire.

    Obeah: A Sorcerous Ossuary.

    Pomba Gira: Pomba Gira and the Quimbanda of Mbumba Nzila.

Now, some of these religions are obviously located in Central and South America, but they still have their ideological roots in Africa, which the books go into. They are also (unfortunately) some of the only primary source documentation out there describing the rituals from a first-hand experience (Frisvold traveled to the locations and was inducted into the cults, and then wrote up their rituals in the above books). I would start with Palo Mayombe on that list.
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Re: Ritual crime in West Africa

Postby stefano » Fri Mar 14, 2014 9:45 am

Thanks Pushkarev - note made, I'll see if I find anything by Frisvold at the library. As I have it there is a stiff psychic price to pay if you do the initiations and talk about it to the profane, but Frisvold must know his stuff better than me.
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Re: Ritual crime in West Africa

Postby stefano » Tue Mar 25, 2014 5:10 am

Nigeria: Police probe Ibadan 'house of horror'

Nigerian police have opened a murder investigation after human skeletons and body parts were discovered in an abandoned building in the south-west.

Officers also rescued several people nearby who had been chained together and appeared severely malnourished.

The alarm had been raised by motorcycle taxi riders in the city of Ibadan after some of their colleagues went missing.

Several people have been arrested in the city - Nigeria's third largest - a police spokeswoman said.
Living skeletons

When police searched the abandoned building - dubbed the "house of horror" by the media - they found skeletons, decomposing bodies, skulls and bones on bloodstained floors.

A number of people were found shackled in leg-irons inside the building.

"Some seven malnourished human beings looking like living skeletons were also rescued in the bushes surrounding the building," police spokeswoman Olabisi Ilobanafor told AFP.

She said the motorbike riders had stumbled on the bodies after complaining to police about the disappearance of colleagues in suspicious circumstances.

"It is not a common occurrence in Ibadan or in the (Oyo) state. The police will investigate this crime in all its ramifications," she said.

Observers say some victims of kidnapping are often tortured or used as sacrifices in black magic rituals.


Sounds like the captors used drugs:

Ibadan horror: Victim recounts ordeal in forest

One of the victims that were rescued by the police at Soka forest, Ibadan, Oyo State, which is believed to be a ritual killers’ den, said she was kidnapped in September 2013.

The victim, whose name is being withheld for security purpose, is currently recuperating with seven other victims in Adeoyo Hospital, Ibadan.

No fewer than 20 decomposing bodies were discovered in the forest on Saturday, while about 23 others were rescued alive.

They were taken to different hospitals in the city, with eight of them – four men and four women – in Adeoyo Hospital.

The woman, who was still weak from her experience, told PUNCH Metro that she knew she left her home in September and since then could not remember anything until Saturday when she was rescued.

She said, “I remember that I left my home in Okebola and was going to Challenge. I entered a taxi and that is the only thing I can remember until police rescued us yesterday (Saturday).

When asked whether she did not see her captors killing people and selling their parts, she said, “I think such thing happened, but it did not really register because my mind was blank.

“I can recollect seeing people falling down, I can remember that some were taken away and they never returned, but really, it did not mean anything to me until Saturday. It was as if I woke up from a slumber.

At this point, the victim countenance changed as if she went into a trance. Many questions asked by our correspondent went unanswered.

PUNCN Metro also observed that other victims were yet to regain their full strength.

They muttered words that were disjointed, but the nurses said they would regain full mental and physical ability.

They said two days of treatment was not enough to cure them completely, having been chained and maltreated for a long time.

No doctor was around to attend to our correspondent, but it was gathered that two of the victims were able to give their names.

Families, youths visit forest

Families whose members had been missing on Sunday besieged the forest where captives, skulls and decomposing bodies were found with the hope of finding them there.

One of such is the Oguntade family. The family spokesman, Kehinde, said their father, Isaac Oguntade, 95, left home in the Gbongan area of Osun State on December 31, 2013, but never returned.

“He is an old man, but still strong. He was a retired teacher and he was going to a bank on Osogbo Road on the day we last saw him.

“We have searched everywhere in vain. When we heard of this discovery, we came down to see if our father could be one of the victims, but we could not find him here,” said Kehinde.

A police report, dated January 14, 2014 and signed by one Inspector Akinlade Lawrence, confirmed his claim.

Also, hundreds of angry youths visited the forest, unleashing mayhem on visitors and herdsmen who graze their cattle in the area.

Our correspondent, who visited the forest on Sunday, saw the youths slaughtering and sharing cow meat and vandalising vehicles.

One of such vehicles with Lagos number plate, MK 126 AAA, belongs to a presenter with Splash FM. He also sustained injury with a deep cut on his head.

The youth also attacked security men of a company situated close to the area of the discovery. At the junction linking the road to the narrow forest, a man had been burnt to death. Eyewitnesses said he was linked to the operators of the camp.

A large number of adult and kids clothes and shoes were at the scene, while mats and other household items were found inside some of the rooms in the building where the captives were reportedly kept.

Oyo reacts

However, a statement from the Oyo State Police Command stated that a man had been arrested in connection with the discovery, while arms and ammunition were also discovered at the scene.

It reads in part, “Incident report on murder/ unlawful possession of firearms about 1730 hrs yesterday (Saturday). Information received at tollgate division that behind the Oyo State urban mass transport yard, Soka area Ibadan, some area boys, about 100, invaded the area, searching for two missing cyclists. They discovered an uncompleted compound where two women and five men were found chained and looking unkempt.

“Some decayed corpses and skeletons were also found in a nearby bush. The scene was visited and one Abideen Akanmu was arrested. He said he was employed by one Gbadamosi, now at large, to take care of the destitute found there. Victims evacuated to hospital, while a corpse was deposited at same hospital mortuary for autopsy.

“Five security men in a nearby company were also arrested and the following items were recovered from them – three single-barrelled gun, one bow, 16 arrows, 22 cutlasses, 40 life cartridges, seven table knives, two axes, two iron files and one phone.

“Angry mob set the security post ablaze but the fire was put out. The State Criminal Investigation Department is investigating the discovery.”

Residents who spoke to our correspondent said there was enough evidence to conclude that the place was for ritual killing.

One of them, who identified himself as Comrade Rasheed, said, “We have searched the whole forest and found strange things. There are decomposing bodies of people and more than 50 skulls.

“There are houses in the forest and no one lives there. We saw a man who claimed to be a student of a university, but on close examination, we found out that he was not mentally alright. The police should not conclude that the place is where mad people were treated.”

One of the volunteers, Abiodun Olaniyi, said a man approached them with a gun, but disappeared into the forest when he saw the huge crowd.

“A woman we found there said she had given birth to children for her captives. We rescued many people who were still alive and a dead body in the septic tank.

Another resident, Kolawole Falana, said,“I was hit with the butt of a gun by the police. They did not allow us to break a slab and see if people were kept underground.”


Confusing scenes for the rest of the weekend, but one could conclude that some of the mayhem aimed to prevent the real story coming out, or the perpetrators being identified:
IBADAN HOUSE OF HORROR: Riot, as victims narrate experience

BY OLA AJAYI, with Agencey Reports

IBADAN—Scores of rioters went on rampage, yesterday, outside an abandoned building in Soka area of Ibadan dubbed the “House of Horror” after decomposing human remains, skeletons and about 23 survivors were found there.

Meanwhile, some victims narrated how they were captured and their experience in the hands of their captors.

At least 20 people were injured and 12 vehicles damaged when about 50 people, brandishing sticks and machetes, were prevented from accessing the property. Meantime, more decomposing bodies of victims were recovered yesterday.

A pregnant woman was said to have been killed by a stray bullet, while used tear gas canisters were seen on the ground.

Earlier, the body of another woman was seen at Ring Road area of the city, but the cause of death was not known. She was naked with the body bloated.

At the median close to Soka, a mob set a man on fire when he was seen with a gun. The body was left unattended to.

A man, who was digging one of the rooms in the large hall to ascertain whether some people were still trapped in a pit, was shot and taken to an undisclosed hospital.



Governor Ajimobi visits

These happened before Governor Abiola Ajimobi, who was returning from the kidnappers’ den, got to the area.

Before his arrival, some irate mob, according to a police source, wanted to set a police station ablaze to protest alleged lackadaisical attitude towards the incident.

Armed policemen were seen arresting some suspects at Sanyo Police station to protect the station.

As Governor Ajimobi was returning from the scene, angry people stood on the road calling his attention to a woman allegedly hit by police bullet.

The governor stopped to address the people, especially women who were weeping uncontrollably.

He said: “From today, we have to be vigilant to prevent this kind of evil. We are here to sympathise with the families of those dead victims, to know the root of this incident and to bring all culprits to book.”

“We would expose this place; dig the ground to see if anybody is hidden underground. Try to give information if you have any to get all the culprits.

“If you are afraid of the police, the doors of my office are open. All prayers and curses you know, cast them on the culprits so that we can get them. God will use us to punish them.”

He called on the commissioner of police to investigate the death of the woman allegedly killed by policemen in an Armoured Personnel Carrier.



Insider gist

A security source told Vanguard it would be an understatement to say hundreds of people fell as victims to the kidnappers.

He said a close look at some dry bones and skulls revealed that the place had been there for many years.


Other items found in the area included school uniforms, thousands of shoes and pieces of clothes, head gear, travel bags, about 50 bags of solidified cement, abandoned vehicles of people believed to be victims, mats, cooking pots, knives, sponges, calculator, keys, ropes, bank cards, cooking utensils, among others.

Grafitti were on the walls where the builing. The date written on the well sunk close to the hall read 31-5-05. Many spots on the floor appeared to have been dug.



Journalists mobbed

Two journalists were rough-handled at the scene. Mr. Felix Ademola, a photo-journalist was maltreated by policemen despite showing his identity card on demand.

It was the intervention of the newsmen attached to the governor’s office that resisted his arrest as they identified him as a journalist.

A government ambulance was vandalised by angry relatives of missing people, who were prevented from going to the area. More suspects were also arrested by the policemen.



Suspect

One handcuffed suspect led security men into the hall telling them what each of the rooms was used for.



Survivors’ story

Titi Adeniyi Dokpesi, Wale Atoyebi, Nafiu Shittu and Michael Ola are some survivors receiving treatment at Adeoyo Hospital.

Ola, who said he had been kidnapped since last year, explained that he was coming from Oke-Ogun where he went to see to the welfare of his parent before he was abducted by some people at Challenge area.

He became unconscious and when he opened his eyes, he found himself among other victims. He said the kidnappers always visited the den to see them and bring other newly-kidnapped victims.

“At times, for three weeks they would not give us food,” he said.

Shittu said he was hawking mixed concoctions at Gate Area when some men bundled him into a waiting car and sped off.

A woman, who claimed she was related to late Chief Obafemi Awolowo family, Mrs. Titi Adeniyi nee Dokpesi, said she was picked up and forced into a vehicle only to find herself in the evil forest.

She said she was abducted two months ago by some people who claimed she was under arrest, and driven away to an unknown place.

According to her, she was in front of her residence at Oke Bola, Ibadan when some people swooped on her and forced her into a vehicle.

She said: “I am from the compound of late Baba Awolowo of Oke Bola in Ibadan. Some people came and rushed at me while I was sitting in front of our house.

“Nobody was around then. My people were in Lagos. They said I was wanted somewhere and that they came to arrest me. They then took me away in their vehicle. Later, I found myself in that forest.

“I don’t know whether people were being killed or women giving birth. Where they kept us was where I used to be. Once I covered my head with my cloth, I would just sleep off.”

Another victim, Mr. Wale Atoyebi, from Ada in Osun State, also confirmed he was kidnapped.



Relatives

besiege hospital

Meanwhile, several people from different states thronged the hospital to check if their missing relations were among those receiving treatment in the hospital.

A nurse who preferred anonymity said the victims were responding to treatment.

She said: “They have improved tremendously since they were brought here. They came with a bad smell. Some of us had to bathe and wash them while some Samaritans donated clothes to them.

Asked about the survivors’ grown hair, she said: “You know their case is peculiar. If we should cut their hair, anybody can come around to claim anyone of them and then ask where the hair is. What do you want us to tell them?”

When the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Indabawa was called to react to the woman hit by bullet, he said he too was at the scene.



The discovery

The den was found when a group of motorcycle operators and taxi drivers reported that some of their members had gone missing and were believed to have been abducted.

Inside the building, there was an overpowering stench and swarms of flies, forcing onlookers to cover their noses and mouths with face masks.

Locals said they believed the building, located about one kilometre from the main Lagos-Ibadan highway, was being used as the offices of a construction firm.

“For a long time, we have been noticing some movements in this area and we alerted some security people. But they did not react,” said a local community leader Isiaka Bello.


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Re: Ritual crime in West Africa

Postby coffin_dodger » Tue Mar 25, 2014 5:14 am

Cannibal restaurant 'with roasted human heads on the menu' shut down by police
The Independent 12 Mar 14

Police arrested 11 people and closed a restaurant after two human heads wrapped in cellophane were discovered at a hotel restaurant that had been serving human flesh.

A tip-off led police to the macabre discovery in Anambra, Nigeria, with 11 people being arrested and AK-47 guns and other weapons being seized.

Human flesh was apparently being sold as an expensive treat at the restaurant, with authorities saying that roasted human head was even on the menu.

cont - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 23693.html
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Re: Ritual crime in West Africa

Postby stefano » Thu Apr 03, 2014 9:30 am

Thanks coffin dodger; I looked for updates on that story now and couldn't find any.

The place in the story below is about 50km from Ibadan, where that 'house of horror' was. Elections, like the contest in 2015 that Nigerians are already preparing for, tend to coincide with an uptick in ritual crime as pols try to skew the odds in their favour.

Man arrested with severed human parts
Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji
Published: April 2,2014

Severed human parts were found with a suspected ritualist in Ogun.

Severed human parts were found with a suspected ritualist who was arrested on Wednesday at a place suspected to be a den of ritualists.

The den is located in Iyana Egbado Village, along Abeokuta-Lagos Expressway, Ewekoro Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The suspect was alleged to have attempted to kill a woman before she was rescued by a passer-by. The rescuer became suspicious of the cellophane bag the suspect was holding and forcefully tore it only to discover that the contents were severed human parts, a witness said.

He raised an alarm which attracted a crowd from the nearby cement factory to the scene. The suspect was mobbed and almost killed on the spot.

The suspect, who had been feigning to be a lunatic, realised that his life was in danger. He pleaded with the crowd not to kill him, and promised to confess.

A witness, Samuel Oladele, told journalists that the suspect told the mob that he belonged to a five-person syndicate operating in the Ewekoro axis for the past nine months.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the police later arrived the scene to arrest the suspect with the exhibits found with him.
When PREMIUM TIMES visited the den, human parts sliced into pieces, plastic containers filled with human blood, ladies under-wear, shoes, blood stained dresses, and a duvet were seen at the scene.

Other items included knives, various non – functioning electronics parts and assorted sodas suggesting that the suspect and other ritualists were indeed living under the bridge.

When contacted, the Ogun State Police Command Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the incident.
He said investigation was going on the incident and appealed to members of the public to avoid public lynching of suspects.
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Re: Ritual crime in West Africa

Postby stefano » Thu Jun 12, 2014 4:49 am

Man arrested with fresh human head
11 June 2014, 16:15

Lagos - The Police Command in Lagos State has arrested a 38-year-old man for allegedly being in possession of a fresh human head.

The Public Relations Officer of the command, DSP Ngozi Braide, made the disclosure on Wednesday in Lagos.

She said that the man, name withheld, was arrested on Tuesday at Orile, Lagos by anti-robbery policemen, attached to the Orile Police Station.

"The police team that arrested the suspect was led by one Insp. Bernard Oyinlade, while they were conducting a ‘stop and search’ operation near the white sand area of Orile.

"The team stopped the man who was walking along the road with a polythene bag having suspected him and immediately called for a search.

"He immediately took to his heels and was pursued.

"He was arrested and during the searching of his bag, a suspected fresh human skull was found.

"He will be transferred to the State Criminal Investigations Department, Panti, Yaba for further investigations,” Braide said.
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Re: Ritual crime in West Africa

Postby stefano » Thu Jul 31, 2014 4:01 am

Not clear from the story what exactly he is alleged to have wanted to do...

Rivers Police arrest man, 10-yr-old boy for witchcraft

PORT HARCOURT— The residents of Iwofe, Rumuolumeni in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State were on Monday, thrown into confusion following the apprehension of a 10-year-old boy said to have turned into a cat to witch-hunt a family in the community.

A resident of the community who spoke to Vanguard said a cat jumped into a room from nowhere while the occupants were wide awake. The cat was said to have transformed to a boy as they were planning on how to chase out what they thought was a mere cat.

Vanguard gathered that when the cat turned into a young boy, the occupants of the room screamed to attract their neighbours who came to their aid.

The source also said the boy begged his captors that night not to kill him, naming his accomplice as a 48-year-old man said to have sponsored his evil mission to the family.

Meanwhile, the Iwofe Divisional Police Headquarters has arrested the boy and the 48-year-old man. When contacted, a senior police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “Actually, two people have been arrested in connection to witchcraft activity.”

But he declined to give further information on the issue, insisting that it is only the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, that is empowered to do so.

Contacted, the Rivers Police Command spokesperson , ASP Grace Koko, said she was yet to be briefed on the issue.
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Re: Ritual crime in West Africa

Postby semper occultus » Mon Sep 01, 2014 8:14 am

Although i cant prove it... yet..... there is a strong link between South African president Jacob Zuma's private security detail/bagmen and muti practices in Tanzania. Any pointers in that direction from any white hat securocrats over a proxy link would be welcome...


http://www.davidicke.com/forum/showthre ... 526&page=3
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Re: Ritual crime in West Africa

Postby stefano » Tue Sep 02, 2014 3:05 am

Thanks semper - that's very interesting. I'd heard of occult links between the Zuma clan and the Swazi royal family, which are rumoured to explain SA's indulgence towards the Swazi king and his criminal mismanagement of that country.

SA, Tanzania and the DRC have lately been involved in military action against a Rwandan proxy force in the eastern DRC. SA's involvement is related to the fact that the Zuma clan, through JZ's nephew Khulubuse, has some oil concessions on the Congolese side of Lake Albert in partnership with Dan Gertler, an Israeli notorious in those parts. Rwanda has accordingly been cutting Tanzania out of the East African Community, turning it into a Rwanda-Kenya-Uganda show. The Tutsi-Hutu thing is part of a more ancient rivalry between Bantu peoples (whose migration was east from the Niger Delta) and Nilotic peoples (who came south down the Rift Valley). That fight is recorded in the old Bantu legends, and the mythological aspect makes it very probable that magic would still be involved.
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Re: Ritual crime in West Africa

Postby stefano » Wed Jan 28, 2015 3:33 am

Child ritual killings spread alarm, anger in Ivory Coast

By Ange Aboa

ABIDJAN Tue Jan 27, 2015 11:42am EST

(Reuters) - At least 21 children have been kidnapped in Ivory Coast since December and most have been found dead with their bodies mutilated, authorities said, in a wave of ritual killings some residents fear may be linked to upcoming elections.

Police chief Brindou Mbia said security forces had been placed on high alert after the spate of child abductions but he declined to speculate what was behind the killings.

In the commercial capital Abidjan, where at least three children have been abducted, residents expressed concern for the safety of their young ones.

Many said the kidnappings were likely linked to ritual killings by corrupt businessmen and politicians, who used body part in ceremonies supposed to confer supernatural powers.

"These are mystical and occult practices," said Didier Kobenan, an electrician. "This is about black magic and they need these human sacrifices to get money and power."

Presidential and possibly legislative elections are scheduled to take place toward the end of the year in the world's largest cocoa producer and the economic motor of francophone West Africa.

A spate of child abductions was recorded ahead of elections in 2010.

The kidnappings have led to calls for action from the U.N. children's agency UNICEF, which urged authorities to do everything possible to quickly identify those responsible.

"UNICEF is deeply worried by the kidnapping of children and the mutilated bodies that have been found," UNICEF's representative in Ivory Coast, Adele Khudr, said in a statement.

Dominique Ouattara, the wife of Presidente Alassane Ouattara, appealed on Monday for the Interior Ministry to take action to protect children.

"Let us avoid leaving children unwatched," she said.
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