Headless corpses raise Satanic Voodoo ritual killing fear in Togo*

By John Zodzi
Reuters
Friday, September 21, 2007; 9:42 AM

LOME (Reuters) - Six grisly murders in Togo in which the victims were
decapitated and drained of their blood have raised fears of a resurgence
of Satanic ritual killings ahead of parliamentary elections in the West
African state next month.

The serial killings occurred last weekend in the southern Vo and Lacs
prefectures, east of the capital Lome. The victims included a
12-year-old boy and a 63-year-old woman and their severed heads were
carried off by the killers.

The discovery of the headless corpses has shocked Togolese and triggered
a wave of speculation that the killings were Satanic Voodoo ritual
murders. This is a practice still found in parts of Africa in which
people kill to obtain body parts and blood in the belief they will bring
social success and political power.

Police announced the arrest of four suspects, including one from
neighboring Benin, the West African home of the ancient Voodoo religion,
who confessed to killing the 12-year-old boy.

Togo holds legislative elections on October 14, and international
observers hope they will strengthen the weak grip of democracy in the
small former French colony, which like Benin is wedged between Nigeria
and Ghana on the Gulf of Guinea.

In a society where traditional beliefs still have influence, some
Togolese saw a link between the killings and the ambitions of aspiring
candidates for next month's polls.

"Some of these deputies are ready to do anything to keep their seats and
you hear that they're carrying out sacrifices," said Joel Attigan, a
geography student.

Others saw the murders as linked to a desire for social advancement.

"There are too many young rich people in Togo these days. These crimes
are linked to these kind of people, who sometimes use human sacrifices
to obtain their goals," said Da Mensa, the manager of a bar and
restaurant in Lome.

Togo's media have joined the feverish debate, blaming shadowy religious
sects in Togo and Benin.

"We are in Africa, and spilled human blood can reveal many things," the
newspaper Le Magnan Libere said, referring to the witchcraft practice of
using blood or body parts for divining or influencing the future.

The police have been cautious about confirming the ritual killing
hypothesis.

But they said the arrested Benin citizen, Roger Kodjo Hounguiya, had
confessed that he was working for a fellow countryman, Jean Goudjo,
wanted in Benin for grisly murders involving mutilation.

The European Union, which froze most of its aid to Togo in 1993 citing
the poor democratic record of then President Gnassingbe Eyadema, is
sending electoral observers to the polls next month. Eyadema died in
2005 and his son is now president.