LAGOS, Nigeria- A teenage girl in Nigeria has confessed to taking part in the ritual killing of 48 people in the last seven years, media reported Thursday.
Police arrested the 13-year-old school student last week as a suspect in the killing of a two-year-old boy in Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria, the independent Vanguard newspaper said.
The girl told police she was initiated into a secret cult by a civil servant seven years ago, the paper said. The man has since been arrested.
Under interrogation, she also admitted to taking part in the deaths of 47 others.
"She did not only confess to killing the small boy called Ibro, but also took the police to the house of the leader of the cult," the Vanguard quoted a police source as saying.
The girl said Ibro's heart was removed after he was killed. The teenager said vital body parts were usually removed from the victims and sent to the cult headquarters in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos, the paper reported.
Ritual killing is common in some parts of Africa's most populous country, where some people believe witchcraft involving the use of human parts can make them rich.
09:16 07-26-01
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