For some time, there have been reports that some ritualists, also known
as ‘Yahoo boys’, have been stealing female underwear, sometimes at
gunpoint, particularly around campuses of tertiary institutions in Delta
State. Although the veracity of the claims that such stolen undies are
used for ritual purposes has not been established, such reports have
instilled fear into the hearts of ladies living in such areas, resulting
in fear and panic.
And in the ensuing panic, our correspondent
observed that many ladies in the affected areas in Delta have been
devising ways to safeguard themselves against danger.
It was
learnt that the underwear of girls and women, particularly of ages
between 14 and 35, are allegedly considered as ‘hot cakes’ for use by
the ritualists.
Used pants, according to some students at Asaba
campus of the Delta State University, sells for as much as N350,000,
with some adding that the price can be higher if it is confirmed to have
body fluids.
At the campus, it was learnt that one of the
measures being used by female students to protect themselves is to go
out without wearing pants.
For instance, a student of the school,
who lives outside the school campus and who only identified herself as
Esther, said three of her friends had started employing the strategy of
going out without wearing pants.
“We hear that the pants those
ritualists or ‘Yahoo boys’ steal are being used for money ritual. After
they finish performing some rituals on the pants, the owners will start
bleeding or vomiting blood. Since the news got to us, three of my
friends have stopped wearing pants. I have stopped going out at night,
even for something as important as going to the campus to study at
night. Although, I heard that these evil people also operate during the
day, I believe it is more dangerous at night.
“We heard that last
week, on Anwai Road, at around 8pm, two men forcibly collected a young
lady’s pants. As I speak to you, we have not seen the lady since then to
know the effect it will have on her. Though, unlike my friends who have
stopped wearing pants, I still do, but we have been advised to stop
hanging our pants on washing lines outside.
A 22-year-old female
student of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Asaba, who
simply identified herself as Sandra, described the alleged theft of
female underpants as evil brought for Asaba by ‘Yahoo boys’.
Confirming
that some ladies no longer wear pants in some parts of the state,
especially in Abraka, Asaba, fear of having them stolen by ritualists,
Sandra said she was told that some pants could be sold for as much as
N500,000 each.
Sandra, who said she had stopped wearing pants
outside, said, “I am telling you the truth; in Delta State now,
especially Asaba, there is fear because the way these ‘Yahoo boys’ or
‘Yahoo Plus boys’ are looking for female pants is crazy. Some even
collect ladies’ pants at gunpoint.
“I have stopped wearing pants
whenever I am going out, and that goes for some of my friends too to
prevent ourselves from being victims of these evil people. When they
collect someone’s pants, it is the end for that person. It happened to
one lady in Umuagwu quarters of Asaba. Her family has taken her to
church for healing because she has been behaving abnormally. I have also
stopped going out with people I don’t know their background, especially
those with flashy cars.”
Another student, who insisted that the
problem was really serious but spoke on condition of anonymity, said,
she knew a lady who fell ill after losing her pants.
“I know one
Jenifer who fell into the hands of these evil boys in Asaba. On Friday,
December 14, 2018, she fell very ill. The management of a hotel in
Umugwu, where she had gone to meet someone, quickly reported the case to
the police and they were advised to take her to a traditional healing
home.
“When contacted on the telephone, the man identified as the
culprit, said the lady was still alive, but since then, his line had
not been reachable,” she said.
Our correspondent met a female
hairdresser, who claimed that the victim was her customer and that she
had visited her at the place where she was being treated. She said the
lady was looking very ill and that it didn’t look like she would
survive. But as she was talking to Saturday PUNCH, another lady joined
the conversation, saying the lady in question had died.
Saturday
PUNCH also learnt that in Abraka, Ughelli, Ozoro and Warri, some ladies
have resulted to sprinkling their pants with oil that had allegedly been
blessed by preachers.
According to Efe, a young lady in her late
20s, she no longer hangs her underwear on the washing line outside her
flat or leaves the diapers used by her baby lying around.
“Some
women sprinkle their pants with ‘anointed oil’. Some of us have stopped
hanging our pants on washing lines outside. If you come to my compound,
you won’t see any underwear hanging outside like it used to be and it is
because we are afraid of ritualists.
“Since we heard the news,
we have been hanging our pants in our bathrooms; whether they get dry or
not is not a big issue. We sometimes iron our underwear to get them
dry. We are also mindful of what our visitors could do so we take
precautions. We understand that these ‘boys’ have agents who sneak into
houses to steal pants and brassieres.
“Although, I haven’t seen
anyone who is a victim of this problem, I have heard about some cases.
Even my female neighbours told me that they had stopped wearing pants
since there were reports about some guys stealing underwear at gunpoint.
It’s better not to wear pants than to die prematurely,” she said.
When
asked if not wearing pants could increase the incidence of rape, Efe
said “yes,” adding that “we don’t have any other option and even men
will not know that a lady is not wearing pants except they are told or
they are really close to the woman.”
In Ogwushi-Uku Polytechnic
in Aniocha North Local Government Area of the state, it was learnt that
female students had adopted a strategy of going to their boyfriends’
places without their undies.
This was disclosed by a student in National Diploma Two, who identified herself as Cynthia.
“Most
ladies have stopped leaving their pants in their boyfriend’s house or
wearing pants there. In my own case, I trust my man and believe he will
not do anything to hurt me. He is from a good background and not a
greedy person who would want to make quick money through rituals. But I
know that many ladies on this campus now visit their boyfriends without
putting on underwear. For instance, my friend, Chida, has stopped
wearing pants,” Cynthia said.
When asked if some were avoiding
having boyfriends as a move to be more cautious, Cynthia said, “We are
just trying our luck to see if the friendship we develop now will lead
to marriage. Before now, whenever you visited your boyfriend and had to
sleep over, you would take some spare underwear along, but that no
longer happens.
“Also, we avoid lonely routes, during the day and
at night because of the sad reports that get to us. We heard that some
people now go about in flashy cars, looking for ladies on lonely roads
whom they would point their gun at and ask them to bring their pants or
be shot dead.
“Many ladies have stopped going out after 6:30 pm; we would rather stay in our hostels.”
Our
correspondent also ran into five young ladies discussing how ritualists
had also allegedly reviewed their strategy by forcing ladies to wear
new pants and then taking them back.
“We don’t know what to do
again; most of us have stopped wearing pants but these ‘Yahoo tboys’
have also adopted another method. They go about with new pants and when
they meet ladies that do not have pants on, they will give them pants to
wear and collect them back, at gunpoint. Women should also look for
what they will use men’s boxers to do. May God protect women in these
evil days,” one of the ladies said.
Meanwhile, a man was
reportedly apprehended recently while allegedly attempting to steal some
female underwear. The suspect was reportedly caught by local vigilantes
in Agbarha-Ughelli area of the state after he allegedly stole a bra and
was looking for pants to steal.
When he was quizzed by security
operatives, the suspect allegedly confessed that a man whom he had asked
to show him how to make money told him to go and get female pants and
bras before he would assist him.
He allegedly said he was to meet with the unknown man at a popular hotel in Ughelli area after getting the underwear.
Also,
on Sunday, December 2, 2018, five ladies were said to have encountered
some ritualists at Oha Junction, close to Osubi along Abraka Road, who
ordered them at gunpoint to bring their pants.
Saturday PUNCH
also learnt that some churches had started advocacy to advise their
female members to be mindful of where they keep their pants.
A
female Sunday school teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said,
“We have seen it as our responsibility to teach our ladies, especially
teenagers, ways to avoid being victims of this ugly practice that we
experience in Delta State.
“As a teacher in my church, I have
told female members of my church to be suspicious of their friends and
even brothers. They should not leave their pants lying around anywhere.
If possible, they should hide them in their bags and they should not
collect pants as gifts from friends. We used to hear ‘your money or your
life’ but today, it has become a case of ‘your pants or your life.”
She
further advised young ladies to be wary of hanging their pants on
washing lines outside and to be smart enough to resist being deceived by
men in flashy cars, saying “all that glitters is not gold.”
Meanwhile,
Mr Charles Aniagwu, the Chief Press Secretary to Okowa, said the
governor had ordered a crackdown on all ‘Yahoo boys’, ritualists and all
those involved in the unexplainable and sudden wealth acquired by some
people in the state.
He expressed concern over the increasing and
disturbing activities of suspected ritual killers and criminally minded
individuals, whom he said were becoming more conspicuous because of
their flamboyant lifestyles.
“The governor has ordered the police
commissioner to go after these ‘Yahoo boys’ that are causing fear,
unrest and panic in the state,” he said.
The Police Public
Relations Officer, Delta State Command, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, who
confirmed the development, said the case of a young woman – Ezino – who
had a ‘strange’ ailment had brought the attention of the police command
to the activities of ritualists in the state.
He said that the
young woman reported to the Police A Division station and complained
that maggots were coming out of her body after and that she was referred
to the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, to ascertain the cause.
“From
the FMC, the lady was taken to a traditional healing home by her
family, but we have not heard from her since then,” he said.
On
whether the suspect was arrested, Aniamaka said, “What offence shall we
arrest him for? The boyfriend said he only slept with her and that he
did not rape her. For maggots to be coming out of her private parts is
not known to the law.”
Aniamaka said no arrest connected to the
alleged stealing of female underwear had been made so far, but he urged
members of the public to always give timely information to the police to
help prevent.
He urged ladies to be security conscious at all
times, assuring that the command was ready to decisively deal with crime
in the state.
Mrs Benedicta Osakunih-Izuegbu, Senior Special
Assistant to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa on Girl Child Development, had said
that the current wave of criminalities, frauds and ritual-related
crimes, should be fought through advocacy.
“We have to fight
this crime in three ways; one is through advocacy to enable the
perpetrators, particularly the youth to change their mindset. Again,
parents and guardians must ask questions and query all wealth got
illegally by their children and wards. The traditional institution and
government should also come up with policies and programmes to tackle
the crime.” she had said.
The fear of ritualists is currently
rife in the state with some women appealing to government at all levels
to rise to the challenge and punish anyone found to be involved in
crime.
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