Pastor in Nigeria killed over ‘stealing genitals’

A CURFEW was imposed in parts of Nigeria’s nort h centra l Benue state af ter a pastor was k i l led by a mob over a lleged cases of genita l t heft, of f icia ls said November 12.

Ru mou r s of “ma n ho o d theft” – where victims believe their genitals are shrinking or retracting into t he body – are not u ncommon i n Niger ia and other parts of West Africa a nd of ten lead to mob v iolence.

This latest incident occurred in Daudu, a town about 250km from the federal capital Abuja.

Local authorities said a group of young people accused a pastor and an alleged accomplice of being responsible.

Caleb Aba, the head of the loca l gover nment, rejected t his, telling AFP: “It was confirmed that this was not true because scientif ic tests were carried out.”

The pastor’s alleged accomplice was ta ken into custody for his own protection, after loca l media said he and t he pastor were collecting money from residents to cure them.

The pr iest, fea r i ng for his l i f e, f led t he t ow n, pol ice s p o k e s woma n C a t h e r i n e Anene sa id, adding t hat his church was burnt dow n by angr y youths.

“Yout hs t ra i led h i m a nd k i l led h i m. Event ua l ly we found his dead body,” she told AFP.

“After t wo days, the youths aga in accused a not her person of remov i ng a yout h’s genita l organ. This man was beaten to the point of coma so the police inter vened,” Aba said, explaining t he curfew.

T h e a r my a n d p o l i c e deployed to the area after local media reported a group had invaded the weekly market chanting “no penis, no mark e t”, t e mporar i l y hal t i ng trade.

Eight people were arrested for c ausi ng publ ic d i st u rbance and inciting v iolence, police said.

Loca l aut hor it ies sa id t he curfew, imposed on November 9, would remain in place unt i l t he secu r it y sit uat ion improves.

Psychologists have coined the belief of “manhood theft” as “koro” – a Malaysian term for t he ret racting of a turt le’s head.

Col lect ive panic linked to t his bel ief ca n be fou nd i n a nc ient C h i ne s e med ic a l records t hat a re over 2,000 yea r s old, ac c ord i ng to a ha ndbook on u nusua l a nd rare psychologica l disorders published by Oxford Universit y Press.