Police find naked bodies of traditional healer and client after ritual ‘to conjure up money’ goes horribly wrong

Herbal medicine is a major industry in Nigeria, but some services prove highly controversial

Its exponents say unlicensed herbalists are giving traditional medicine a bad name (YouTube)

Police in Nigeria say a herbalist and his client have been found dead, after a ritual designed “to conjure up money” appears to have gone disastrously wrong.

Oladele Bakare, 51, is reported to have visited a traditional healer in Ogun state, southwestern Nigeria, in order to take part in the money ritual.

According to Nigeria’s The Nation newspaper, Mr Bakare visited 60-year-old herbalist Kareemu Okeyode, and the pair locked themselves inside the healer’s “sacred room”.

Some time later, neighbours expressed concern that the ritual was not over and, unable to gain access to the healer’s house, called the police.

Acting police spokesman Abimbola Oyeyemi told The Nation the naked bodies of the pair were found in the room. He said it was “very likely that they died of suffocation in the room suffused with smoke of burning incense”.

While money rituals are a common motif in Nigerian cinema, they are a controversial subject and some question whether they are actually carried out in real life.

Healer speaks to BattaBox Nigeria about the existence of money rituals (YouTube)

It is traditionally believed that the ritual must involve some form of animal of human sacrifice, and that while it will bring short term financial gain, the process will bring the person involved some form of unspecified “repercussions”.

Money rituals are among the more unusual services offered by some healers in rural Nigeria, where there is a robust industry in traditional herbal medicine.

Despite efforts from the Nigerian government to crack down on illegal herbal medicine facilities and drive people towards conventional forms of medicine, herbal sales of various kinds remain popular.

The National Association Of Nigerian Traditional Medicine Practitioners (NANTMP), meanwhile, seeks to distance its members from the kind of unlicensed herbalists who might offer services like money rituals.

Dr Tola Soyemi, who has written a book entitled Philosophy and Healing in Traditional Medicine, told the Tribune that unlicensed herbalists were giving traditional healers a bad name.

“Traditional medicine has been in existence from the Stone Age. It is still relevant in our daily life,” he said.