In the heart of Ariaria Market, Aba—a bustling center of commerce in southeastern Nigeria—a chilling event recently unfolded. A young man, known to many as a humble building materials trader, was caught in a web of diabolical rituals. What started as a whisper of suspicion soon erupted into a horrifying discovery: the man was involved in human rituals. His exposure led to the uncovering of yet another occult practitioner in Enugu State, where human beings were found locked in a newly constructed toilet soakaway. The air was thick with disbelief—how could any man sleep at night after locking up another soul in a septic pit? A pregnant woman at that yet you have mother and children as your own family.
These aren’t isolated stories. They reflect a growing wave of young Nigerians, including those raised in Christian homes, turning to traditional and dark means to chase wealth. Ritual killings, blood sacrifices, occult pacts—what was once taboo has now found space in the digital age. Behind TikTok glam and Instagram riches lies a generation haunted by spiritual poverty.
Hell is real. Wickedness is real. But even more real is Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
“When young people are not discipled to die to self and love the cross, they will look for shortcuts to success and end up in demonic bondage,” says Bro. Gbile Akani.
“We do not serve God for what He gives, but for who He is. When Jesus becomes your treasure, the world loses its grip.”
What Bro. Gbile said cuts deep in today’s climate. Many youths, though sitting on pews every Sunday, are far from the altar. They are surrounded by flashy church teachings that promise breakthrough without brokenness. Today’s sermons echo success more than sanctification. A generation called to carry the cross now carries charms, perfumes from shrines, and the weight of generational curses.
Pastor W.F. Kumuyi, once warned,
“You cannot serve God and mammon. A Christian who goes back to idols is like a dog returning to its vomit. God is not mocked.”
Our fathers knew better. Before my late grandfather passed—himself a seasoned traditionalist—he called my father and said, “The living God you worship is whom I will worship from today.” That confession didn’t come lightly. It came from a man who had walked the dark corridors of idol worship and finally found peace only at the feet of Jesus.
Similarly, my late father-in-law, a known witch doctor in his time, gave a final instruction on his deathbed: “Don’t follow the path I took. Follow Jesus.” If our ancestors who danced around the fire of witchcraft turned away in their final breaths, why are our children returning to the same darkness?
The answer is spiritual blindness.
As Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:22, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”
They’ve traded the eternal for the temporal. They crave power, but forget that power without God is poisoned. They chase fame but ignore that Lucifer was once the most famous angel—until pride made him a devil. They want wealth but forget Judas Iscariot’s silver coins brought only regret and death.
Dear reader, salvation is personal. Not inherited. Not transferred. You need a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Religion doesn’t save. Christianity without Christ is empty. Going to church does not make you saved—just like standing in a garage doesn’t make you a car.
Pastor Kumuyi once said, “Salvation is the beginning of a new life, not a religious decoration.”
Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Idolatry has consequences. Not just physical, but generational. Those shrines may look silent now, but their curses echo into families for decades. That buried charm may rot, but its effects haunt destinies. The evil that men do no longer just lives after them—it lives with them.
Yet, there is hope.
That hope is Jesus. Not just the Jesus of Christmas and Easter, but the Jesus of broken hearts and crushed dreams. The Jesus who walks into the prisons of your past and unlocks the chains you’ve called lifestyle. The Jesus who cleanses, restores, and redeems.
Gbile Akani again echoes truth when he says:
“There is no shortcut to destiny outside of Jesus. When we seek a throne without the cross, we enthrone the devil.”
Our culture is sick, not because we lack churches, but because many churches lack Christ. We no longer weep over sin. We no longer tremble at the Word of God. Instead, we glamorize greed and sanctify self.
But there is a remnant rising—young people who are rejecting the lies of social media success and returning to the ancient path. A new revival is awakening in homes, in hearts, in hidden places.
As Prophet Isaiah said, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:6).
To that young man contemplating joining a cult for money—stop. Look to Calvary. Jesus paid the ultimate price so you won’t have to lose your soul chasing riches that perish. That “sugar mummy,” that occultic ring, that shrine behind your family house—none of it will satisfy you. Only Jesus can.
Material possessions are not the reason for your calling. Eternity is. You were called to be holy, not flashy. Saved, not seen. You were called to be a light in the darkness, not a shadow among shadows. Beauty fades. Money flies. Power corrupts. But Jesus remains forever.
Return to Him.
Not for bread, but for life. Not for cars, but for cleansing. Not for followers, but for forgiveness. Choose Jesus again. Not out of fear, but out of faith. Not because tradition failed, but because grace has found you.
In this tender time, choose Jesus again—because He never stopped choosing you.
– Inah Boniface Ocholi writes from Ayah – Igalamela/Odolu LGA, Kogi state.
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