A renowned Ifa Priest and former Chairman of the Ekiti State chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Traditional Medicine Practitioners, Chief Jacob Osamika, has said hundreds of Ifa worshipers will go to heaven.

The Ifa priest in a chat with Daily Independent in Ado –Ekiti, also accused modern day Pastors, Islamic clerics and yahoo boys of complicity in the waves of brutal killings in the country.

He said religious leaders usually consult Ifa priests for rituals to grow their congregations, adding that those involved in cybercrime popularly called Yahoo Plus were being aided by juju and rituals by Pastors and Islamic clerics for economic gains.

The Ifa priest said,

“We, the Ifa Worshippers are always wary of indulging in any rituals that involve human life but, some Pastors and Alfas are always interested in it may be because of its efficacy. We do advise them against. But these people are desperate and mindless. They don’t care anything that would fetch them money or instant fortunes, they would engage. 

“What members of the public don’t know about these Pastors and Alfas is that most of them have this diabolic thing buried right inside their worship centres. Which is why we laugh each time we hear them preaching against Ifa disciples. We know their secrets.

“Is anyone surprised that the number of missing people keeps on increasing by the day. We see what most people don’t see. But these clerics always want to paint Ifa worshippers as evil when in the sense of it they are more dangerous.”

Speaking further, Osakima who is the owner of Oranmiyan Eledumare Herbal Centre also called on the federal and state Ministries of health to enhance partnership with trado-medical practitioners in the country as obtainable in other advanced nations.

He alleged that the investigation conducted by NANTMP and traditionalists revealed that several ritual killings being carried out by misguided youths were executed for them by owners of churches and private consultation homes.

The herbalist said,

“Ifa priests and other traditionalists don’t need too much to survive, unlike the Alfas and Pastors who love to travel around the world in private jets and aeroplanes. As practitioners, we knew our experiences and we have known that Pastors and Alfas seek for power more than any Ifa priest.

‘’Their adventures know no bounds as far as power seeking is concerned. It is saddening to find out that church owners and Alfas were the ones doing Juju for ritualists and Yahoo boys just to sustain their followings and live big, this is not good for our system and the security agencies must beam their searchlights on these unscrupulous elements.

“But it is so sad that our members were being indicted for those bad behaviour, even when many of them were innocent. Some of these yahoo boys normally do thanksgiving in churches when they had breakthroughs.There are rules and oaths traditionalists must comply with the oath he took by not aiding evil actions unlike what were obtainable in churches and mosques.”

The herbalist urged the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control to commence a campaign against quack trado –medical practitioners in order to protect the sector from being compromised.

Osamika said,

“Before allowing them to practice, they must ensure that they attend seminars. The only way they can achieve this is to set up a task force the way Ekiti State Traditional Medicine board did, this has helped in promoting herbal medicine in Ekiti State.

“Like me, I have attended seminars in Gbobi hospital and Lagos State Teaching Hospital, all in Lagos and the one organized by Lagos and Ekiti traditional boards, where we were exposed to modernity in the practice and this had really raised the standard of our practice.” 

The Ifa priest who expressed joy that traditional medicine has gained recognition in the country said more work needs to be done to raise the standard to that of India, China and other Asian countries.