2027: Outrage follows Donald Duke’s revelation about human sacrifice

Donald Duke’s claim that some Nigerian politicians have resorted to human sacrifice in their pursuit of power has triggered outrage across Nigeria, with community leaders, academics and activists warning that the allegation should not be brushed aside.

Duke, a former governor of Cross River State and the Peoples Redemption Party’s presidential candidate for the 2027 general election, made the remarks during an interview broadcast on Arise News’ Morning Show. He said political desperation had turned democracy into a “do-or-die affair” because politics had become an occupation rather than a vocation.

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When you have a society where people are desperate for power and do all sorts of things, even using human sacrifice, you ask yourself, how low are we going to go to get it right?

Duke said he encountered a case while serving as governor in which authorities found body parts and skulls at the home of a local government chairman. The politician, Duke said, had carried out a sacrifice. “Now, this happens multiple times across the country,” he said. “These are things we know but we never say.”

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The fundamentals of our democracy are being lost on us because it is becoming literally a do-or-die affair.

His comments drew strong reactions from elder statesmen, community leaders, educationists, activists and other concerned Nigerians. They argued that the warning must be taken seriously given the country’s already high levels of electoral violence. They said no election was worth Nigerian blood and urged security and law-enforcement agencies to launch an immediate investigation into the allegations.

Professor Gbade Ojo, a political scientist at the University of Ilorin and former chief of staff to the late Governor Abiola Ajimobi, said allegations linking ritual killings to political ambitions pointed to a dangerous combination of desperation, criminality and superstition. He said elections should be about winning public confidence, not eliminating opponents.

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Elections are fundamentally about winning the confidence of the people, not eliminating opponents.