Nigerian captain throws 12 illegal immigrants overboard *In voodoo ritual to appease stormy seas


Written by Victory Oyeleke
Sunday, December 11, 2011


SEAFARERS are arguably the most superstitious people on earth. From the onset of seafaring, seafarers have developed and observed a stringent set of myths and superstitions. Both the humble fisherman out for fishing in his canoe and the captains of luxurious yacht doing Trans- Atlantic crossing, are always on the lookout,


Some superstition were started simply for safety sake, some have biblical references, while others are just superstition. Regardless of how or why these superstitions evolved, the strength of sailing superstition is undeniable and it recently played out on a ship bound for Italy carrying illegal immigrants.


The ship which set sail from Libya for the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa in early August, was trying to cross the Mediterranean when tragedy struck. The ship was caught in rough seas and the situation got worse when the ship's engine failed but rather than turn rely on skills the Captain, a Nigerian, allowed his superstitions get the better of him and allegedly turned to Voodoo and started picking victims for human sacrifices to appease the seas and pacify the devil


The ship was eventually rescued and escorted to Lampedusa's harbour by the coastguards after they receiving a mayday signal form the stranded ship. On getting to Lampedusa, 25 illegal immigrants were found dead in the hold due to suffocation from poisonous fumes from the engine and inadequate conditions on board. Others were rushed to hospital suffering from dehydration and exhaustion.


A full investigation was launched by Lampedusa Island Police and the horror of what happened unfolded. According to the prosecutor Ignazio Fonzo, who led the investigation, "Survivors told us that the captain of the boat, a Nigerian, was the leader of the rituals that began after the engine on the boat failed and they were left stranded in stormy seas.


"One man was selected taken down into the hold and beaten before being led back up on deck and then thrown into the sea with his hands tied. As this happened, prayers, chanting and dancing took place and it was said he was sacrificed to cast out demons and calm the seas. "This happened several times during the voyage we believe at least a dozen people were thrown alive into the sea in this way but now after a thorough three month investigation we have arrested five people in connection with these multiple murders." The five men arrested are West Africans aged between 28 and 44 years old.


According to witnesses, victims were picked on the basis of their ethnic origin or nationality after the selection, a number of Nigerian women performed a macabre dance of death before victims were thrown into the sea. One survivor recounted what happened. 'I saw a group of Nigerian women carrying out a strange magic ritual and afterwards they pointed at various people.


'The first who was grabbed had his hands and feet tied and he was then thrown alive into the sea.'


The practice of throwing people overboard for one reason or the other can be traced back to slavery where cruel greedy slave-traders would pack on more slaves than there was room for and when they start running low on supplies they would throw them overboard. Gregson V. Gilbert 1783 was a landmark case that though did not stop slavery, increased the number of new recruits supporting the abolitionist and inspired the Quakers ( The Religious Society of Friends) to present a petition for the abolition of slave trade.


In the Gregson V. Gilbert case, the slave ship Zong was under the command of Luke Collingwood and set sail on 6th September 1781 from the African Coast. As was common practice, the crew packed on many more slaves than there was room for and, as a result, disease and malnutrition had claimed the lives of seven white men and sixty African slaves by 29th November. In his book 'Black Slaves in Britain", Shyllon writes;


"Chained two by two, right leg and left leg, right hand and left hand, each slave had less room than a man in a coffin."


Luke Collinwood decided that all remaining sick Africans should be thrown overboard to protect the crew and the remaining cargo of slaves. It is said that he assembled the crew and explained that throwing the slaves overboard whilst they were still alive, for the safety of the ship, would result in the ship's underwriters bearing the cost. Allowing the slaves to die a natural death on board would make the loss the crew's responsibility. European law, at this time, stated;


The insurer takes upon him the risk of the loss, capture, and death of slaves, or any other unavoidable accident to them: but natural death is always understood to be excepted: by natural death is meant, not only when it happens by disease or sickness, but also when the captive destroys himself through despair, which often happens: but when slaves are killed, or thrown into thrown into the sea in order to quell an insurrection on their part, then the insurers must answer.


The ship was in the joint ownership of James Gregson and a number of other slave-dealers in Liverpool. Collingwood decided to act in the best interests of himself and the owners by throwing the live slaves overboard. His attempt to use the law in his favor by throwing 133 slaves overboard over a three day period was misjudged, as the ship was not in any danger. Shyllon reports;


"The last ten victims sprang disdainfully from the grasp of their executioners, and leaped into the sea triumphantly embracing death. Once again, I think that the Africans aboard the Zong as well as any other slave ship should be considered brave for enduring the painful, inhumane conditions they had to experience. Even when it came down to the seamen throwing the captured slaves over the boat, there were still ten people who faced death with a lot of courage".


When the owners attempted to claim the full value of the murdered slaves from the insurers, the company refused to settle. They discovered that the claim that the slaves had to be thrown overboard because of water depletion was untrue as it was later proven that the captain had an opportunity to take on water on 1st December and when the Zong landed in Jamaica on 22nd December, there was 420 gallons of water to spare.


Just like the slaves on board Zong those immigrants did not have to die such a horrific death just because the captain thought he was trying to save the rest of those on board.

http://odili.net/news/source/2011/dec/11/620.html

This is what happens when Ignorance, evil, and a lack of education take front row seat at the Life Awards

Barbaric,ritualistic inclined lot.Everywhere u turn u see where d nigerian superstitious belief has taken its people:back to d stone age;a land where little boys& girls are still killed for being witches,where d procurement of body parts is still believed to b able to b used to create wealth;where misfortunes are more often linked to enemies in d village;unfortunately d captain with d macabre dance of his compatriots tells us a lot about d society we find ourselves

Damn.

THIS SHOULD BE ON A FRONT PAGE, !!!, AND U WONDER WHY THE WHITE MAN MOCKS THE BLACK MAN, ITS BECAUSE OF OUR BELIEFS, STUPID THINGS THAT WE KEEP IN OUR HEADS,

That a human living can throw others into d deep sea to die while compatriots dance& no one cud say this is unacceptable is beyond both sensible& spiritual belief

Can we have the name, place and state of origin of the so-called captain so we can be sure he's actually a nigerian.

Also, the name and places of origins of the women involved.

I really dont know if this internet age isnt actually drawing mankind back to the dark ages and savagery.

The way my father has described the traditional religion to me, it honestly sounded pretty barbaric. Too much focus on human sacrifice and ish.

This is why I'm not convinced that the coming of Western religion to Yorubaland and various other parts of Nigeria more generally was such a bad thing.

The problem with the black man, as I see it, is (compared to other races), his inability to see right from wrong WHEN DEALING WITH HIS KIN. . . . THAT IS WHEN HE IS MOST EVIL!!!!

You might have some type of point there sha.

Especially considering all these goats always yapping about black women this, nigerian women that, yet when they see any other race their lips never remove from the other race/nationality's butt even when the same attributes they're abusing in their own kind, is also present there.

ekt_bear:

The way my father has described the traditional religion to me, it honestly sounded pretty barbaric. Too much focus on human sacrifice and ish.

This is why I'm not convinced that the coming of Western religion to Yorubaland and various other parts of Nigeria more generally was such a bad thing.

And Christianity is/was not barbaric with all the human sacrifices and killing for Jehovah we read in the bible? 

Even this practice of throwing living breathing human beings in the sea was perfected by the same Christians just 4 generations ago.

Most, If not all religions go through their own reformation phase, I can speak for the Ifa religion of my own forefathers. It's practiced all over the world across several continents by people of various shades and hue, It even has a healthy robust following in cyberspace with thousands converting annually. Yet we don't hear of any scandalous human killing or murder/sacrifice.

We humans, and our religious practices evolve continuously. African religious beliefs would have evolved wether Christianity came or not. The danger in your statement lies in the implicit assumption that we wouldn't have been able to do that without Christianity.

More importantly, it downplays the negative effects of Christian hegemony over our lives and our society.

I take it your dad is a Christian. Right?

the so called "Nigerian captain" must be a Yoruba man
they are the devils we have in nigeria
they also love juju too much

Wasnt the biblical Jonah tossed into the sea in similar circumstances?

Yeah he is a Christian. We've been Christians since 1908 or so.

I'm not opposed to traditional religion or anything, but I'm just glad that all that sacrifice sh1t they did up to even 1900 is at this point heavily frowned upon.

realchange:

the so called "Nigerian captain" must be a Yoruba man
they are the devils we have in nigeria
they also love juju too much

Interestingly enough. . .

(ANSAmed) - AGRIGENTO, NOVEMBER 30 - Five non-EU nationals have been arrested by police in Agrigento on suspicion of acts of violence and, in particular, the murder of immigrants who were thrown alive into the sea. The arrests are part of an ongoing investigation by the prosecutor's office into the crossing of a boat from Libya to Lampedusa on August 4. During the crossing, some migrants suffocated after being crammed into the hold. The body of one of the men was still on the boat and recovered during the rescue operation in Lampedusa.

Upon the boat's arrival, the captain was arrested on suspicion of murder and favouring illegal immigration.

The men arrested are [size=18pt]Ohalete Emeka[/size], 38, and [size=18pt]Onuchukwu Duglass[/size], 35, from Nigeria, and Igala Faisal, 37, Mohamed Adama, 28, and Ahmokugo Kujo, 44, from Ghana. (ANSAmed).

http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2011/11/30/visualizza_new.html_11984204.html


Hehe

^^ Igbo Kwenu

realchange:

the so called "Nigerian captain" must be a Yoruba man
they are the devils we have in nigeria
they also love juju too much

u see ur life

must u call tribe into this ? upon i begged u.

Another meaningful thread just went tribalistic. . . . I hope this one makes the frontpage for pple to learn . . . . .especially those ignorant ones who think one race or tribe is too "advanced" and "sophisticated" . . . . Bunch of Low-quality-in-high-quantity bastardds just like their commercial activities.

Next . . . . . . . .

ekt_bear:

Yeah he is a Christian. We've been Christians since 1908 or so.

I'm not opposed to traditional religion or anything, but I'm just glad that all that sacrifice sh1t they did up to even 1900 is at this point heavily frowned upon.

Good.

I'm glad too actually.

The same human wisdom and common sense that rid christianity of some of their "barbaric" practices reformed many other religions too. Reformation is not exclusive to one religion and not created by one either. It's simply a very human process.

Which ones? Name some names.

Arguably the other major world religion hasn't yet had this reformation, no?

How do we know it is a natural process?

(Before like you I thought it'd happen naturally with increased wealth, access to education, etc. But is this true?)

When religion truly penetrates a willing and honest heart, then we would be free these kind babaric acts staring us in the face.
The captain and his crew must have used the ritual as a mere excuse to reduce weight of the ship to increase its control, cos i dont see how a crew of five persons with diverse background will agree on such a darft act in this age.
It's just beyond my imagination. . . . Haba ! ! !.

^^^ Fear is what drove the man to allow such barbaric acts under his watch. I mean even the most religious/chaste beings, when gripped by the deepest of fears, would probably resort to such irrational acts. Only those with ability to take hold of their fears can overcome such. Ignorance does not help the case, and it certainly does not help when you are surrounded by other ignorant beings equally gripped with fear. So, yeah, fear and ignorance . . . this is what you get.

Fear should never be the excuse for such an evil and irrational act. What these men did was just barbaric. How I wish they had committed such crimes off U.S Coastal Waters--- preferably around Texas. . . . .

ekt_bear:

Which ones? Name some names.

Arguably the other major world religion hasn't yet had this reformation, no?

How do we know it is a natural process?

(Before like you I thought it'd happen naturally with increased wealth, access to education, etc. But is this true?)

I hinted at an example close to home earlier. You are yoruba, when was the last time they buried another man with the dead body of a king from your town? That was not out of place 3 generations ago.

When was the last time you saw reports of humans sacrificed to Yoruba gods during one of the numerous oro festivals across Yorubaland?  Except you want to prove that Christianity has now changed present day oro adherents?


One more, there is a long-term controversy within Ifa "theology" about the role and the appropriateness of Iyanifas ( female babalawos). From my understanding, some Ifa purists (many of them diasporan) believe that women cannot become Real Babalawos, while many reformist Ifa believers in the diaspora see that as an old rule they can dispense with. Presently we have female Babalawos (Iyanifas) practicing all over the world, to me that is the power of self reformation within the religion.

For the sake of honest clarification: I'll add that the Iyanifa practice is actually supported by traditional Africa based Ifa scholars and practitioners, experts like Prof. Wande Abimbola even argued that women were never prevented from becoming Babalawos and most of the diasporan purists were influenced by christian prejudices and practices they learnt after arriving on slave ships. Which is very ironic  

There are more examples, Too tired to go further right now. Maybe people with deeper knowledge of other religions can chime in with examples from theirs. I know muslims have enough reformation epochs in their history too.

Christianity is not responsible for modernity, humanity is.

You can google Iyanifa or female Babalawo, Ifa is very active online, I bet you'll find more examples

Kobojunkie:

^^^ Fear is what drove the man to allow such barbaric acts under his watch. I mean even the most religious/chaste beings, when gripped by the deepest of fears, would probably resort to such irrational acts. Only those with ability to take hold of their fears can overcome such. Ignorance does not help the case, and it certainly does not help when you are surrounded by other ignorant beings equally gripped with fear. So, yeah, fear and ignorance . . . this is what you get.

Very correct.

kingoflag:

Fear should never be the excuse for such an evil and irrational act. What these men did was just barbaric. How I wish they had committed such crimes off U.S Coastal Waters--- preferably around Texas. . . . .

I don't believe fear can ever really be used as a rational excuse for wrong doing. It is clear, however, that many of the ignorant are lead by their fears, than by that which is rational.

I would not attempt to compare the actions of any in the information age, to the actions of people who lived in the dark ages. That would be trying to make an excuse for the actions committed by this ship captain.

Kobojunkie:

I don't believe fear can ever really be used as a rational excuse for wrong doing. It is clear, however, that many of the ignorant are lead by their fears, than by that which is rational.

I would not attempt to compare the actions of any in the information age, to the actions of people who lived in the dark ages. That would be trying to make an excuse for the actions committed by this ship captain.

+1

This is so sad, no wonder the rest of the world laughs at us and call us savages.

That captain should be charged for first degree murder and should be killed. I wonder where he comes from.

This is barbaric but I want to say that I always get amused when some guys come here and post things like "This is why the white man thinks we are backward and so on". Some of you living abroad think you are knowledgeable just because you live abroad but you know very little. Human sacrifice has been a practice for thousands of years and believe it or not, It is still being practiced all over the world, including in America and Europe. The only difference from Africa is that it is highly organized in these western nations that you can hardly trace it while it is not so sophisticated here in Africa so it is easily exposed.

Do check out the missing persons database in America and you will be amazed how many thousands of people go missing every year and are never seen again. Spirit-ism and Satan worship is practiced all over the world. It is not an African thing. It is a world thing. Modernity and scientific advancement can never and will never change it.

Typical of Nigeria, thats why our reputation will always worst, To appease the sea gods, you're right, fooling yourself and that uneducated juju man who encourage him to do that, when will our people learn, shall i say come out a little bit from their savaged life, and be more civilized, wasting lifes become a success, what happen to that spastic captain's children, why didn't he use at least one or two of his?, i believe now that Nigeria legislation has an eye for eye law to take that spastic captain down as well to feel what is it like to take a life that he did not created, dumb fool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!