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Paper short abstract:

In Ghana, ritual specialists, primarily males, operate in ways that blur the line between ritual and crime. Acts include having sex with female worshippers, touching them sexually, flogging, incising, and murder. Fieldwork suggests certain acts can pass for crimes under Ghana's criminal codes.

Paper long abstract:

The pressure to seek answers from spiritual sources in Ghana has placed much power in the hands of diverse ritual specialists operating in the religious landscape. Under the guise of ritual actions, crime takes place in these sacred spaces, but the aura of sacrality that typifies religious spaces provides camouflage for such crimes. The ritual specialists, primarily males, perform this power in ways that blur the line between ritual and crime. Rituals prescribed for worshippers or clients as avenues to redemption can involve male priests having sex with female worshippers, touching them sexually in secrecy or openly, flogging, incising, and even murdering. In both the Pentecostal and Indigenous religious traditions circles, ritual specialists are not held accountable for their actions as these acts are classified as rituals, and all worshippers recognize or are conditioned to accept them as such, resulting in victims suffering in silence and being deprived of justice. Building on fieldwork among selected Pentecostal churches and Indigenous religious shrines, I argue that certain acts that can pass for crimes under Ghana’s criminal codes are accepted as rituals, both by looking at worshipping communities as well as the victims.

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Paper short abstract:

Spiritual charms are among the major objects that criminals in Nigeria usually use for crime perpetration. Therefore, this paper focused on this under-researched phenomenon by examining the types and patterns of spiritual charms usage for criminal activities in Nigeria.

Paper long abstract:

Despite the fact that spiritual charms are widely recognised as constituting a major component among the classes of objects that criminals in Nigeria frequently rely upon for the facilitation and perpetration of crime, research focusing on this phenomenon is very scarce. Therefore, this paper attempted to fill this lacuna by examining the types and patterns of spiritual charms usage for criminal activities in Nigeria. Relying on the propositions of symbolic interactionism theory as a conceptual framework, it critically examined the factors underlying criminals’ utilisation of spiritual charms for crime perpetration in Nigeria, the types of crimes for which spiritual charms are commonly deployed by criminals, and the implications which criminals’ use of spiritual charms holds for crime prevention and crime control. The paper argued that the availability of a wide variety of spiritual charms in Nigeria poses a unique challenge for criminal justice officials because access to them plays a critical role in gravitating many individuals towards criminality as they are frequently employed to commit a crime, victimise people, terrorise communities, compromise the safety of law enforcement officials in the line of duty, and in some cases, evade the law.

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Paper short abstract:

The study argues that the reason for criminal spirituality lies in a deficient religious pedagogy that presents a reductionist view of religious and spiritual experiences, and also not critical to provide ethical guidance to challenge assumptions that underlie abuse of religious authority.

Paper long abstract:

The recent BBC African Eye investigations which uncovered evidence of alleged widespread abuse and torture by the founder of the Synagogue Church of all Nations, the late Temitope Joshua, has generated interest in the perceived criminal activities perpetrated by some religious persons in the name of deliverance sessions. Deploying the case of two prominent Nigerian pastors, the jailed Chukwuemeka Ezeuko, popularly known as ‘Rev. King’ and Chukwuemeka ‘Odumeje’ Ohanaemere, otherwise known as ‘Indaboski’, this study reflects on the psychology of abuse, dominance and captivity that has aided the use of religion and spirituality as a justification and motivation for harming people. Drawing on data sourced from media monitoring of news reports and social media presentations, the study purposively selects news, feature stories and clips of deliverance sessions, and adopts a qualitative approach to critically analyse these data. The study posits that the captivating ambience of many deliverance sessions give room for gullible and congregation to succumb to abuse, blackmail and violence. It further argues that the reason for this lies in a deficient religious pedagogy that presents a reductionist view of religious and spiritual experiences, and also not critical enough to provide ethical guidance to challenge assumptions and biases that underlie abuse of religious authority. To address these incriminating events paraded as religious activities, this paper looks on to phenomenology by suggesting the adoption of conditioned scepticism as an epistemic attitude in relation to religious events.

Keywords: Deliverance sessions, fear, phenomenology, conditioned scepticism

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Paper short abstract:

Religious beliefs have played a significant role in shaping human behavior throughout history, and this is particularly evident in the case of Nigeria, where religious beliefs have been linked to violent conflict and criminal behavior among most of the insurgents in Nigeria. Particularly Boko Haram.

Paper long abstract:

Religious beliefs have played a significant role in shaping human behavior throughout history, and this is particularly evident in the case of Nigeria, where religious beliefs have been linked to violent conflict and criminal behavior. While there are many factors that influence criminal behavior in Nigeria, the role of religious beliefs in shaping the identity of groups like Boko Haram and legitimizing their use of violence is particularly noteworthy. Using a combination of primary and secondary sources, the paper examines how religious beliefs have influenced Boko Haram's ideology and actions, including their use of violence. The paper argues that while religion is not the only factor motivating Boko Haram's behavior, it plays a significant role in shaping the group's identity and legitimizing its use of violence. The paper also discusses the implications of this dynamic for conflict resolution and peace building. In conclusion, the influence of religious beliefs on criminal behavior in Nigeria is complex and multi-faceted, but it is clear that understanding this dynamic is essential for conflict resolution and peace-building efforts in the region.

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Paper short abstract:

Before June 2022, southwestern Nigeria had never witnessed a gruesome attack until it happened in a church in Owo on June 5, 2022. This study examined the Owo massacre, the rituality of security, and reactivation of informal mechanisms for vengeance, protection, and peacebuilding in Owo community.

Paper long abstract:

Since 2009, when Bokoharam terrorists began their violence in northern Nigeria, many innocent lives have been massacred in their communities, with no records of such in southwest Nigeria. In a twist of fate, about 50 church members were massacred on Sunday, June 5, 2022, during the feast of a Pentecost in a Catholic church in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria. In this paper, I interrogate the Owo massacre and community responses through the reactivation of traditional peacebuilding structures in Owo, Ondo State. I show how experiences of attacks reinforce collective beliefs and the activation of traditional social control and peacebuilding structures by the church and community in response to the gruesome attack on Owo community. The study adopted Social Bond theory and deployed explorative research designs. Qualitative methods (IDI, KII, and non-participant observation) were used for data collection. This method allowed for holistic and valuable insights through subjective narratives through qualitative primary and secondary sources. Primary data was extracted through interviews with the Olowo, council chiefs, priests of the violated church, Orisa devotees, informal security personnel, and members of the community. Also, the non-participant observation was done by the researcher to observe the community responses, which involve the invocation of Ogun (the community ancestral deity) to arrest the attackers, take vengeance, and for peacebuilding. Data was thematised and subjected to deductive content and thematic analysis. Findings show that mourning reactivates beliefs in informal social control, stirs up collective conscience, and elevates conversation around issues of security and safety.

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Paper short abstract:

The paper focuses on various “remedying” actions taken by families for their loved ones who have “come out of the closet. Using 3 novels, this work explores paradoxical religious expressions that border on criminality by religious clergies that are tasked with exorcising the spirit of homosexuality

Paper long abstract:

Homosexuality in today’s Nigeria has taken on various deleterious assumptions, it is perceived by many as an oddity and has become synonymous to a western aberration that embodies one of the relics of colonisation. A critical historical study of homosexuality in Nigeria, nay Africa, however, proves quite the contrary. This paper attempts to explore the dilemma faced by homosexuals in Nigeria and to understand the trials they encounter in a society that polices and punishes their sexual orientations. The paper focuses on the various “remedying” actions taken by families for their loved ones who have just “come out of the closet,’ particularly, the use of religious exorcism. Using Jude Dibia’s Walking with Shadows, Chinelo Okparanta’s Under the Udala Tree and Unoma Azuah’s Embracing my Shadow as key texts, this work explores paradoxical religious expressions that border on criminality by revered religious clergies that are tasked with the job of exorcising the spirit of homosexuality from their victims. It organises its fundamental argument around Tony Edwards (1993) concept of the rationality of religious paradoxes while concluding that religion and love should be one and the same irrespective of a person’s sexuality.

Keywords: Religion, Criminality, Paradox, LGBTQI, Exorcism

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Paper short abstract:

Using the criminological and sociological theory, this qualitative study seeks to examine how religious beliefs impact on the commission of crimes overtly and covertly in arranged marriages and subsequent effects involving under-age girls and young women within the JMAC.

Paper long abstract:

There has been an intricate relationship between spirituality and criminality in virginity tests, organized and forced marriages within churches in Africa and Zimbabwe in particular where among others, the Johanne Marange Apostolic Church (JMAC) looms large. Using the criminological and sociological theory, this qualitative study seeks to examine how religious beliefs impact on the commission of crimes overtly and covertly in arranged marriages and subsequent effects involving under-age girls and young women within the JMAC. The paper is premised on the argument that the political relationship and collusion between the church and the government of Zimbabwe makes it less likely to prosecute perpetrators and let alone rescue the victims. By deriving votes and calculated prophesies from the church, the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) led government pays a blind eye to criminal activities in the name of religion. The failure by the government to act is interpreted as an acknowledgement of criminal activities giving the church an opportunity to act with impunity leading to multiple life-threatening consequences on the girl child and young women. The research further traces how indoctrination, threats, denial of formal education and poverty and lead victims to see no crime in these activities that are destructive to their lives. Zimbabwe which is a signatory of numerous conventions that protect women and child rights seems to pay less attention to crimes being committed by chosen religious sects. This is despite efforts by the local, regional and international instruments calling for parties to take all appropriate measures to eliminate harmful social, religious and cultural practices affecting the welfare, dignity and normal growth of women and children. The importance of this research lies in addressing an inherently and deliberately ignored issue of the complex connection between religion and crime in the African context.

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Paper short abstract:

I argue that media portraits of Vodou in South Florida, USA, invariably associating the tradition with acts that violate the criminal code, play a crucial role in the imperial delegitimization of the religion and constitutes a form of duress Vodou practitioners must contend with.

Paper long abstract:

When deemed to be necessary, practitioners of Vodou would engage its rituals and discourse in negotiating the bottlenecks they encounter in a south Floridian mainstream legal system in which the balance of power seldom tilts in their favor. In the south Floridian mainstream media, however, Vodou is hardly presented as a legitimate religious practice. Rather, the image conveyed of Vodou in the mediascape of south Florida is one that depicts it as a complex of clandestine magico religious performances individuals and groups engage in performing crime and in escaping detection. What seems more intriguing is that when apprehended by law enforcement agents, some criminals would, in turn, press this public discourse and image of Vodou into service. They would shift the blame for crimes for which they are culpable onto a Vodou curse or another form of Vodou influence over which, they would allege, they had little or no control, hoping desperately to use this as a legal defense strategy. In the process, actual performers of crime reinforce the negative stereotypes of Vodou as a repository of criminal resources produced initially by the media

Drawing on newspaper articles, news items, and YouTube video clips etc. featuring stories of criminals using Vodou or claiming so in south Florida, I show how claims about Vodou’s illegitimacy are fictitious and culturally produced wittingly or unwittingly through such quotidian practices by agents of the American empire who control the mediascape and criminals.