Clifford Orji, a notorious Nigerian criminal known for horrific acts of ritual killing and cannibalism, operated openly for years in a shack under a Lagos flyover before his arrest in 1999.
Passersby were alerted to his crimes by the cries of a captive woman, identified as Awawu, which led to the discovery of human remains and freshly cooked human limbs in his hideout.
Orji was found guilty of kidnapping, murdering, and cannibalizing victims. He revealed that he used a substance to incapacitate women, bringing them to his lair where he would sexually abuse them until comatose before slaughtering them.
He admitted to operating with a network of between four and ten accomplices who shared the human body parts among themselves.
An accomplice and friend, Tahiru Aliyu, who lived nearby, had his shack torn down by a mob after a 4-metre-deep pit was uncovered underneath it where some victims were held before being killed and cooked. The discovery shocked the community and revealed the extent of their gruesome activities.
Despite medical treatment, the rescued woman Awawu later went into a coma and died from her ordeal. The brutal revelations horrified Lagos residents and led to strong community action.
Orji’s case remains one of Nigeria’s most chilling examples of ritualistic and cannibalistic crime. It underscores ongoing concerns around ritual killings in some parts of Nigeria, with continuous calls for stronger law enforcement responses and public awareness to prevent such atrocities.
