BENIN CITY – It is often said that culture is the mirror of a people. That culture encapsulates the sum of a people’s way of life, beliefs, learning and indeed their general worldview . It is, however, regrettable to still see some relic of ancient cultural practices that are inherently oppressive, inhuman, harmful and outrightly criminal being practiced and their criminality being condoned under the guise of cultural practices.
Reports reaching our news desk from Benin City , the Edo State capital have it that the life of one Innocent Esosa Oboh has been traumatized over issues that bother on occultism and ritual practices.
According to a source that spoke to our news crew on the condition of absolute anonymity and secrecy, the ordeals of the said Innocent Esosa Oboh began sometimes in April 2011 when the young boy gave his life to Jesus Christ and turned to Christianity; a move that did not go well with his pagan father, who, according to information at our disposal, belonged to a dreaded occult (name withheld).
According to the source, it is mandatory for members of the said secret society to initiate their eldest surviving son into the group before a specified period of time. Problems were said to have started when the said Innocent Esosa Oboh who has earlier been initiated as a child into the dreaded Confraternity and who has hitherto been an active member of the occult group, suddenly turned his back on the occult group as a result of his new found Christian beliefs. His father was said to have allegedly disowned him as a son prompting the young man to relocate to Lagos .
According to our source, the travails of the said Innocent Esosa Oboh increased soon after it became manifest to the occult group that the young man was serious about his new found Christian Faith as members of the occult group of his father started looking for him to return to the occult society as it is mandatory for the eldest kson of a member to be a member too.
Members of the said occult group are believed to be behind the botched plan to kidnapped the young man on his wedding day in December last year when the said Innocent Esosa Oboh came to Benin to take for himself a wife.
According to a source that pleaded anonymity, the said Innocent Esosa Oboh was only recently traced to his residence in Lagos by suspected members of this mysterious occult society of his father, the young man, however, was said to have spotted about five strange looking men storming his residence. He was said to have escaped from his Lagos abode for fear of his life. As at press time, no one has seen nor heard from him.
In a society rife with corruption and crippled with insecurity, the law enforcement agencies have not been able to stem the tide of such obnoxious practices and indeed seem helpless and perhaps, complicit in it because of the deep seated cultural biases and beliefs that tend to support and encourage such barbaric practices.
The case of Innocent Esosa Oboh is not an isolated one and there are no available statistics to show the extent of the devastation caused by these inhuman practices.
In the meantime, it is hoped that Innocent Esosa Oboh is still alive and that his constitutional right to freedom of conscience and association is protected
