‘Get Rich Syndrome’ and the Challenges of Insecurity in Nigeria

This chapter is a contribution to an understanding of the menace of ritual killings among Nigerian youths. It examines the impacts of the widespread beliefs in mystical powers and the influence they have on people’s well-being and the surge in the demand for ritual sacrifices in Nigeria. Specifically, it adopts the General Strain Theory to emphasise how the hostile socio-economic condition in Nigeria and the culture of excessive wealth accumulation have pressured young people, who have no job or any meaningful sources of income, into engaging in rituals and offering human body parts as essential sacrificial objects for the ritual.