OTOKOTO: How a young boy's death exposed a hotel where guests were killed for rituals

The Otokoto ritual killing remains one of the most disturbing and far-reaching criminal cases in Nigeria's history.

On September 19, 1996, in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria, an 11-year-old boy, Anthony Ikechukwu Okoronkwo was killed for money ritual. But his head was strong as his death unravelled a web of ritual killings that sparked nationwide outrage.

Anthony, a young boy who hawked boiled groundnuts to support his struggling family, went about his usual routine that day. When he got to the Amakohia area of Owerri, he was called by a customer at Otokoto Hotel, a well-known establishment in the area. The man who beckoned him was Innocent Ekeanyanwu, 32 years old.

Thinking he had bagged a customer, Anthony joyfully entered the hotel, and he was treated to a bottle of Coca-Cola, unaware that it had been laced with a sedative. He took a sip and drifted into unconsciousness, never to wake again.

With the boy unconscious, Ekeanyanwu dragged him into a room in the hotel. He then carried out an unimaginable act of brutality. He beheaded the boy with a cutlass. After severing the head, he removed vital organs, including the liver and genitals, which he packed into a polythene bag. The boy's headless body was buried in a shallow grave within the hotel premises.

How the Ritual Plot Was Exposed

After the gruesome act, Ekeanyanwu set out to deliver the boy's head to his superior, Chief Leonard Unaogu, who had allegedly ordered the killing. He hired a commercial motorcyclist (Okada rider) named Opara to take him to Eziama. During the journey, Opara noticed that the polythene bag was dripping with fresh blood. Suspicious, he alerted the police.

Ekeanyanwu was intercepted by the police on his return trip to Owerri after he couldn't locate Unaogu. He was caught with the severed head still in the bag, and soon confessed to the crime, revealing details that sent shockwaves through Nigeria.

Otokoto Riots

While the police investigated, the people of Owerri were outraged, especially after local media aired the image of Ekeanyanwu holding the severed head on September 24th, which led to mass protests. The angry mob abandoned their businesses and marched to the Otokoto Hotel, demanding justice. Following the broadcast, riots broke out across the city. Properties suspected to belong to the 'Otokoto men' or their associates were set ablaze. Protesters:

Protesters:

• Burnt down Otokoto Hotel

• Destroyed Chief Vincent Duru's mansion, luxury cars, and other properties

• Wrecked Piano Plaza, Chibet Hotel, and other associated businesses

• Vandalized the residence and petrol station of Eze Onu Egwu Nwoke, a traditional ruler later implicated by a panel of inquiry

• Targeted former government officials, accusing them of ignoring cases of ritual killings and robbery

This led the military administrator, Colonel Zubairu, to promise a full state-level investigation.

More Horrors Uncovered

Ekeanyanwu was revealed to be a gardener at Otokoto Hotel, which had operated as a ritual killing hub since 1976. His confession exposed a network of body part trafficking, and police unearthed multiple shallow graves within the hotel grounds, up to 24 bodies, many of whom were guests or travellers drugged and killed during their stay.

Just four days after his arrest, Ekeanyanwu died from food poisoning while in police custody, an event widely believed to be an inside job to prevent further confessions. Fortunately, he had already implicated Chief Leonard Unaogu, a business tycoon.

Leonard Unaogu was later arrested, but he denied knowing Ekeanyanwu and claimed he was in Lagos at the time of the crime. On August 20, 1997, a senior magistrate court in Owerri arraigned nine police officers for the murder of Ekeanyanwu:

1. Ifeanyi Anozie - Assistant Commissioner of Police

2. Chukwu Obasi - Assistant Superintendent of Police

3. Kevin Ezirim

4. Christian Nnazi

5. Clifford Odiaka

6. Felix Nnorom

7. Christopher Aguobi

8. Ignatius Igwe

9. James Ibezere

10. Josephat Nwosu

The trial suffered years of delays. Adjournments, judge retirements, and lawyer absences plagued the proceedings. After multiple judges, Justice Chioma Nwosu-Iheme finally delivered judgment on April 28, 1999. She sentenced seven suspects to death, including:

• Chief Vincent Duru, owner of Otokoto Hotel

• Leonard Unaogu, the alleged mastermind

Duru later appealed the sentence in 2012, but the Appeal Court upheld the conviction. Leonard Unaogu eventually died mysteriously in Port Harcourt Prison.

The Otokoto ritual killing remains one of the most disturbing and far-reaching criminal cases in Nigeria's history. It exposed the deadly intersection of greed and ritual practices. What began with the brutal murder of an innocent 11-year-old boy, Anthony Ikechukwu Okoronkwo, revealed a much larger, sinister network of ritual killings allegedly connected to powerful elites.