Thursday, December 21, 2006 at 12:12am
Nigerians get death for cleric murder
Seven members of a Nigerian cult have been sentenced to death by hanging for murdering a Muslim cleric in Lagos. The high court judge ruled that the prosecution had proved beyond all reasonable doubt that the men had murdered Sheikh Sofwan Akodo.
The members of the Alawo Masquerade cult allegedly killed Akodo during a festival in a dispute over money. In the traditional Oro festival of the Yoruba tribe, masked figures dance while demanding gifts, pretending to charge at spectators. The festival usually last several nights, BBC News Online reported Thursday.
As in many similar West African cults, women and outsiders are forbidden to look on at the masked figures in the masquerade. Even when Yorubas are practicing Christians or Muslims, shrines to the old gods still dot the countryside and traditional festivals are taken very seriously, BBC correspondents say.
The members of the Alawo Masquerade cult allegedly killed Akodo during a festival in a dispute over money. In the traditional Oro festival of the Yoruba tribe, masked figures dance while demanding gifts, pretending to charge at spectators. The festival usually last several nights, BBC News Online reported Thursday.
As in many similar West African cults, women and outsiders are forbidden to look on at the masked figures in the masquerade. Even when Yorubas are practicing Christians or Muslims, shrines to the old gods still dot the countryside and traditional festivals are taken very seriously, BBC correspondents say.