Pre-election ritual killings in Gabon are on the rise, carried out by secret networks scavenging for blood or body parts in pursuit of boundless health, wealth, success and power, residents say.
"Unfortunately, this practice seems to be spreading again in Gabon," said Jean-Elvis Ebang Ondo, founder of the ALCR, the Association to Fight Ritual Crimes, since his 12-year-old son was kidnapped, killed and mutilated in 2005.
The ALCR and the Gabonese media claim such killings become more common in the weeks ahead of local elections, because candidates encourage sacrifices on their behalf. Ebang Ondo says there have been 12 ritual murders since last month.
Edang N'na Ralph of Makokou in northeast Gabon early this month became a 13-year-old victim of ritual crime ahead of municipal elections across the equatorial African country on April 27.
He was found strangled, almost bloodless, with holes in his genitals and breast bones, neck and feet. Sexual organs, eyes, ears, tongues, lips and bits of flesh are all considered sources of power.
"The child was hanged to make believe that he committed suicide," a health official in Ogooue-Ivindo province said. "But before that, his blood was drained. There's no doubt it was a ritual killing."
Local people in Makokou township asked for next month's elections to be postponed until the culprits are caught.
Ebang Ondo condemned what he described as a quick-fix practice used by power hungry politicians, who will never be arrested. He also said that once you get caught up in ritual killings, it is difficult to say no and back out.
"If someone does you a favor, you must follow orders and kill when you're asked to carry out a human sacrifice," Ebang Ondo said.
"You can't just choose anybody," Ebang Ondo explained. "The victim must be of quality," since the soul and the blood of the dead person were held to strengthen the beneficiary physically and mentally.
"Arrests are rare and those who are detained are never the ones who order the killings," he said, blaming people in office. "There are political orders to stop investigations."
Interior Minister Andre Mba Obame said he considered casualty tolls given by the ALCR and in the press exaggerated, though he admitted he had no precise figures.
"Crimes feed rumors. Every corpse found is subject to an investigation," the minister said. "People believe that every recovered body, battered by the sea or whatever, is the victim of a ritual crime."
‘CROSSING THE LINE’: China’s embassy in Seoul criticized US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson, asking if his ‘hostile’ remarks were authorized by Washington South Korea and the US are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea, Seoul’s presidential office said yesterday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China. In a recent podcast interview, US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say that he had “truly crossed the line.” The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington might seek to expand the role of US Forces Korea in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key
SEEKING ORDER: Rodrigo Paz said that ‘anyone who wants to destroy the nation will have to deal with this president and the full force of the constitution’ Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday said that the nation was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Paz, who took office six months ago amid the worst economic crisis there in four decades, is battling a groundswell of fury over his policies. The political capital, La Paz, has been besieged by low-income workers and members of the indigenous majority calling for his resignation. “The country needs order and is reaching breaking point,” the 58-year-old said at a public event in La Paz, renewing his appeal for dialogue. On Tuesday, the Bolivian
Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form — part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade “zine” magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the nation’s enduring love of paper in the digital era. While speaking to Agence France-Presse at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara, said: “I think [paper] is a medium that engages all five
Australian researchers have trained lab-grown brain cells on a silicon computer chip to play the 1990s shooter game Doom and said they are just scratching the surface of what the neurons could be capable of doing. It is the science-fiction work of biotech boffins at Cortical Labs, who researched and developed the technology that harnesses the workings of the brain’s networking system. Each so-called “biological computer” contains about 200,000 living human brain cells, grown from stem cells that were harvested from blood donations. Having mastered the simple computer game Pong, where a paddle is moved up and down to send a ball
RSS