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Topics: World News
Jess Hardiman
Nigeria once had a chilling ‘Forest of Horror’ where police found 'decomposed corpses, skeletons and skulls', believed to be victims of kidnapping and ritual sacrifice.
*WARNING: CONTAINS DISTRESSING CONTENT*
The Ibadan Forest of Horror - also known as the Ibadan House of Horror - was a run-down building that was believed to have been used for kidnapping and ritual sacrifice, located in Soka forest in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.
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It was discovered in March 2014 when a group of motorcycle taxi drivers went searching for a colleague who had mysteriously disappeared.
Police searched the abandoned building to find skeletons, decomposing bodies, skulls, bones and bloodstained floors, along with people shackled in leg irons.
At the time, police spokeswoman Olabisi Ilobanafor told AFP: "When we got to the abandoned building in the Soka community of Ibadan yesterday (Saturday), we saw decomposed corpses, skeletons and skulls in the building and surrounding bushes.
“Some seven malnourished human beings looking like living skeletons were also rescued in the bushes surrounding the building.”
Ilobanafor said the taxi drivers had stumbled across the horrors 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,” she added.
“The police will investigate this crime in all its ramifications.”
Police arrested six people at the scene, including five security guards who allegedly had weapons such as guns, bows and arrows, with Oyo state governor Abiola Ajimobi later telling locals that those responsible would be punished.
"Those behind this dastardly act will be punished by God. We too will punish them when we get them," he said.
Kidnapping victims in the area are sometimes tortured or sacrificed for black magic rituals, leading locals to believe the forest was used by occultists and traffickers.
In a 2019 article, the Nigerian Tribune said satanic and occultist practices were ‘as old as humanity itself’, quoting Oyo State police boss Shina Olukolu as saying that ‘all manner of occultist and satanic practices’ take place in Ibadan.
According to Nigerian newspaper The Nation, the victims were rescued and taken to the state hospital for ‘medical attention’, and were later reunited with their families.
An unnamed hospital worker told the outlet that some of the victims suffered from mental disorder, and had been referred to the psychiatric hospital for further medical care.
The area was later developed into a school, with The Punch newspaper saying in 2018 that it marked a ‘new lease of life’.
A retired solider called Pa Isaac Akinloye said he had been at the ritualists den when the news broke.
“I relocated to this community in 2012, just two years before we discovered that we were living right at the back of a place where many human beings were being slaughtered for ritual purposes,” he said.
“In 2013, whenever we attended the landlord’s association meeting, we used to hear noises down the Ogunpa River channel which divides this community and the den. We wrote to the government and the police. The police told us the noises were emanating from mentally-deranged people who they assumed were being treated in the area.”
He continued: “Later, we heard that an okada man was kidnapped. I was here then. When the place was discovered, those that were rescued were up to 30 malnourished people. Yes, we remember that but there have been good changes in the community since then.
“No negative things have been heard since then. What delighted us in the community was the decision of the government to turn the location to a modern school after the Federal Government’s delegation from Abuja paid a visit to assess the place.”