The Ibadan forest of horror, also known as the Ibadan house of horror or Soka, was a dilapidated building believed to have been used for

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...

and

ritual sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exis ...

located in Soka forest in

Ibadan, Oyo State Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its met ...

, Nigeria. The building was discovered on March 22, 2014, by a group of motorcycle taxi drivers, who had formed an impromptu search party after the disappearance of a driver in the area. 23 survivors were rescued from the building, while numerous body parts, decomposing bodies and personal effects of victims were found in the surrounding area. The activities that occurred in the forest are believed to have been coordinated by unknown kidnappers and ritualists in the state who are often supported by some affluent

Nigerians Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

and politicians who use human flesh for rituals. The buildings on the site have since been demolished and it has been redeveloped into Oyo State Comprehensive Model School, a

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

Reactions

The discovery of the forest of horror generated controversy throughout Nigeria. There was a concern on the link between the management (kidnappers and ritualist) of the horror forest and some top government officials and notable politicians in the state but there seems to be no clear evidence to establish that fact. There was a claim by the youth in the area that the Oyo State Police command refused to investigate the forest despite several kidnapping cases reported in the state. Some of the survivors rescued from the den claimed that the ritualist kidnapped victims by claiming to be the officials of the urban renewal initiative coordinated by the Oyo State government.

References

{{Reflist 2014 in Nigeria Murder in Ibadan Kidnappings in Nigeria 2010s massacres in Nigeria 2014 murders in Nigeria Crimes involving Satanism or the occult