Lagos lagoon needs sacrifices – Traditionalist reveals solution to suicide

A traditionalist, Sule Anigboro, has revealed the only solution constant suicides in Lagos Lagoon.

Nigerians have lost count of individuals who have left their houses to end their lives in the Lagos Lagoon. While some unlucky ones jumped into the river and died, others, because of the timely intervention of responders, were rescued.

Anigboro, a popular herbalist in Iperu Remo, viewed the incident from a spiritual angle, calling on the Oba of Lagos and other Yoruba elders to take action.

According to him, those who are supposed to worship the lagoon and offer sacrifices might have stopped doing so for reasons known to them. This, he said, might be the reason the water keeps attracting people under the guise of suicide.

“The question we should be asking is, are they worshipping that lagoon or not? I am not sure they do. The water might be requesting something and the failure to offer it could be the reason people plunge into it. We have a river here in Iperu. One day, a woman coming from Lagos just dropped by the park and headed straight to the river. She jumped into it with her money and ATM cards. Things like this do happen, but people pay no attention.

“Many of these waters used to accept sacrifices in the olden days, now that they no longer get such attention, they may get angry. Those things of the past are still in existence. We have some spirits that operate only at night.

“I can confirm to you that there are mermaids in the rivers. Even the white men do appease the mermaids before constructing bridges. We Yorubas are deviating from our tradition. Is there no mermaid in Osun River?

“In Igbo land, if you impregnate a woman without paying her bride price, you will be in trouble if she dies because you will wed the corpse. Look at the Ilajes, they still deep their babies in the rivers to confirm the babies are theirs. These are traditions that are still in existence, but we Yorubas have forgotten our origin,” Anigboro told Daily Post.