In Nigeria, customs around making money have been fueled by high rates of unemployment and poverty.
After being found guilty of excavating a human skull, five men in Nigeria were given 12-year prison sentences apiece.
The traditional physician they intended to consult indicated they would need it for ceremonies that would bring them wealth.
Upon discovering that the skull was inside a bag, the men entered a guilty plea.
A body buried three years earlier at a Muslim cemetery in the north-central Niger state was unearthed, the prosecutor informed the court.
“They said the herbalist informed and promised all of them that they would share the wealth from the said criminal activity and directed them to look for the human skull,” the prosecutor was quoted as saying by the privately owned Daily Punch newspaper.
Early in September, as the young men, who are between the ages of 18 and 28, were moving the remains to a third party per a conventional doctor’s orders, security guards had apprehended them.
The guys were found guilty of criminal conspiracy, trespassing on burial grounds, and unlawfully possessing a human skull by a court in Minna, the capital city of Niger state.
The conventional physician was not detained or accused.
According to a 2010 Pew Research Center report, “juju” belief—also referred to as voodoo or magic—is extremely common in Nigeria, with many people fusing it with either Islam or Christianity.
These beliefs—particularly the idea that charms and human body parts may make money out of a clay pot—have contributed to a recent upsurge in violent killings in Nigeria, where the victims are frequently thought to be weaker members of society, such as children, unmarried women, and those with disabilities.
Additionally, according to local officials, body parts are traded and utilized in ceremonies thought to bring prosperity.
In Nigeria, where four out of ten people live in poverty, money-making rituals have also been fueled by growing economic desperation, according to World Bank data.