Reactions have trailed the killing of a girl identified as Rofiat by her boyfriend and three others at Oke Aregba area of Abeokuta in Ogun State on Saturday.
It was reported earlier that Soliu, who was the boyfriend of Rofiat had, with the aid of his friends strangled her, cut off her head and burnt same in a local pot, purportedly for money ritual.
Luck ran out on the teenagers when a local community guard, Segun Adewusi, sighted their activities and reported to the police at Adatan.
The police arrested 17-year-old Wariz Oladeinde, 19-year-old Abdulgafar 20-year-old Lukman and Mustakeem, all residents of Abeokuta.
Soliu, Rofiat’s boyfriend who initially absconded was later arrested by the police.
According to the Ogun Police Spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, the boys have all confessed to the crime, claiming they planned to use the burnt human head for money ritual.
In the wake of the heinous incident, Nigerians who could not hide their disdain for the teenagers’ actions took to social media to express their worries.
Many recalled their goals at age 17, questioning why Nigerian teenagers were overwhelmed by the get-rich-quick syndrome.
Some blamed parents and guardians for failing in their responsibilities to bring up their children and wards uprightly, while others said it was a result of the dwindling value system in the country.
However, many have blamed the government for failing to provide good leadership and governance, saying this is why youths resort to internet fraud and ritual killings to get rich quick.
The Ogun State Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Abduljabar Ayelaagbe said: “These teenagers’ and youngsters’ propensity to commit crimes for money is increasingly disturbing. Our society’s approval of moral laxity is, no doubt, a source of this malady.
“We all owe it a duty to help the security agencies and the government to arrest the situation and save our society from looming destruction.”
An investigative journalist, Sodiq Ojuroungbe, posited that “Parents are no longer taking care of their responsibilities. Society, especially this Abeokuta, is really a bad place for a child to grow up. There are thousands of jobless guys here and there. Bars and clubhouses are always full, every day is like a party here, and many of those small kids look up to these Yahoo Boys-turned-ritualists as role models.
“Some parents even take their children to where they can learn Yahoo-Yahoo. We have instances where the mother will take her child to where they can do rituals for him. It is funny when you look around here and the only job you see people do and are always proud of is this Yahoo Yahoo. You are ridiculed when you hustle through normal means.
“It takes the grace of God, family background, and self-discipline for some of us not to engage in it. This country is in a big trouble by the time all these small boys are ripe.”
Bolaji Ajose, a student of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, said many of the teenagers were being influenced by what they see on social media.
Ajose made reference to Tiktok, where he said traditionalists advertise how to get rich through fetish means on videos.
Speaking, Abiodun Adeniji, blamed a parent, who he said encouraged his son to engage in internet fraud.
“That’s where we’ve found ourselves. You can’t imagine an elderly man saying with pride that his son is a Yahoo boy and that he loves it that way. He said the guy is taking back his grandparent’s stolen wealth from the white people. It baffles me anytime it comes to my memory.
Adeniji suggested that “some of those guys should be arrested and sentenced accordingly with their parents.”
Also, a graduate of Mass Communication, Lovelyn Azobu, suggested that youths who engage in internet fraud and ritual killings should be sentenced alongside their parents, and possibly wives, girlfriends, concubines and so on, to serve as a deterrent to others.”
Adebola Oluwaseun said, “Laziness, unseriousness, arrogance, disregard for authorities is prevalent amongst today’s youths.
“Imagine a secondary school leaver with no skills, saying he can’t work under anybody and he goes about with iPhone looking for clients. It’s so pathetic and we are seated on a nuclear bomb if an emergency isn’t declared by parents, spiritual leaders, political leaders etc.
“The society is a reflection of the family and this is where the present and future leaders will be chosen from!
“Just like the Netflix new series, “All of us are dead” (God forbid), if a systemic, strategic, methodical plan/approach isn’t declared.”