Nigerian True Crime: Principals and Principalities

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A narrative Nigerian true-crime podcast exploring Nigeria’s past and present crimes—where history, myth, rituals, and notorious crimes collide in gripping, untold stories.

  1. 1d ago

    The Roundtable: Season 1 Finale | Principals and Principalities

    Eleven weeks. Armed robbers, cultists, and men who cut deals with the devil before finding Jesus just in time. Now the season is over, and it's time to talk about what it all meant. In this special roundtable finale of Principals & Principalities, host Ayomide Odubonojo-Kinoshi sits down with a member of the show's production team and two of the podcast's most active listeners to look back on Season 1. They revisit the cases that stuck — Shina Rambo, Derico, Lawrence Anini, Ishola Oyenusi, and more — and ask the harder questions behind them: Where does "criminal gang" end and "political tool" begin? How much of Nigeria's blood-oath culture is real spiritual fear, and how much is cover for men who were always going to do what they did? And when a notorious figure suddenly becomes a preacher, is it redemption — or just the safest pulpit to hide behind? Season 2 launches in October, diving into Nigeria's most prolific religious criminals and serial murderers. Until then — remember, in Nigeria, crime is never just crime. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on social media for behind-the-scenes research, upcoming cases, and episode drops. Follow us On⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(x)  Follow The Noisy Studio on Instagram To make enquiries about The Studio Book a Session

  2. Jul 23

    The Buccaneers | Principals & Principalities Podcast

    In 1972, at the University of Ibadan, a man named Bolaji Carew was expelled from The Pyrates Confraternity — the fraternity founded by Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka. His former brothers didn't just expel him. They declared him dead. They renamed him "Late Ahoy Rica Ricardo." In Pyrate culture, Bolaji Carew ceased to exist. In the real world, he was just getting started. In this episode of Principals & Principalities, host Ayomide Odubonojo-Kinoshi tells the full story of the Buccaneers Association of Nigeria — the confraternity Bolaji Carew built in the wake of his expulsion, and the violence it set loose on Nigerian campuses for the next five decades. This week we trace the Buccaneers from their founding at "Modaship," the University of Ibadan, through forest initiations that beat blindfolded first-years until sunrise, to the 1994 near-fatal attack on a 23-year-old student union president named Omoyele Sowore — who would go on to found Sahara Reporters and run for President of Nigeria. We examine the deity they call Grand Pa, their acknowledgment of Mami Wata, their founding slogan "Let the devil that leads you, guide you," and the documented trail connecting the Buccaneers to the Vikings Confraternity, the Icelanders, and ultimately the Niger Delta militant Ateke Tom. We look at the sons of police officers arrested in Buccaneer colors, the N3-10 million per group paid to confraternities to deliver election results in Rivers State and Anambra State, and the split that sent Wole Soyinka's Pyrates off Nigerian campuses entirely in 1980. In Nigeria, is crime ever just crime? Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on social media for behind-the-scenes research, upcoming cases, and episode drops. Follow us On⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(x)

    The Buccaneers | Principals & Principalities Podcast

  3. Jul 16

    The Supreme Vikings Confraternity | Principals & Principalities Podcast

    In March 2021, a 27-year-old maritime student led his cult group in beheading a rival, filmed it, posted it on WhatsApp — then took the dead man's legs, hands, and private parts to a native doctor to be ground into charms. His name was Nzubechukwu Victor Okonkwo. He was a member of the Supreme Vikings Confraternity. In this episode of Principals & Principalities, host Ayomide Odubonojo-Kinoshi traces the Supreme Vikings Confraternity — also known as De Norsemen, the Adventurers — from its founding by three breakaway Buccaneers at the University of Port Harcourt in 1983, through its transformation into the Icelanders, the armed wing handed to a street fighter named Ateke Tom. We follow Ateke Tom from gang leader to the man President Olusegun Obasanjo personally summoned to Abuja for peace talks in 2004 — and finally to a traditional throne, crowned Amanyanabo of Okochiri Kingdom in 2017. This week we examine the numbers: 424 people killed in Rivers State cult violence between 2019 and 2022. 109 cult-related deaths linked to the SVC in 2024 alone. Nine dead in three days in Calabar. Eight dead in Benin City. And the political allegations that have followed the confraternity for decades — including claims tying a former Rivers State governor to the group, and twelve sitting members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who the SVC itself says are members. In Nigeria, is crime ever just crime? Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on social media for behind-the-scenes research, upcoming cases, and episode drops. Follow us On⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(x)

    The Supreme Vikings Confraternity | Principals & Principalities Podcast

  4. Jul 9

    Supreme 'Eiye' Confraternity | Principals & Principalities Podcast

    In April 2019, Italian investigators hid a camera inside a cult initiation in Palermo, Sicily. What they filmed — a man stripped naked, beaten, sliced with razors, and forced to drink a mixture of his own tears, alcohol, and tapioca — became evidence in a case prosecutors called Operation No Fly Zone. The group behind it was founded in 1965 by seven idealistic students at the University of Ibadan who wanted to build something African, something free. They called themselves Eiye — the bird. In this episode of Principals & Principalities, host Ayomide Odubonojo-Kinoshi traces the Supreme Eiye Confraternity from campus cult wars in Ilorin and Akure — where sixteen people died in a single weekend and a traditional ruler begged police to purge cult members from their own ranks — to the trafficking networks moving women from Nigeria to Sicily, Sardinia, and Barcelona. And we ask why, years after Italian courts secured mafia-related convictions against Eiye members in Palermo, the men who run the network from Nigeria have never been touched. This episode asks the question that defines this podcast: in Nigeria, is crime ever just crime? Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on social media for behind-the-scenes research, upcoming cases, and episode drops. Follow us On⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(x)

    Supreme 'Eiye' Confraternity | Principals & Principalities Podcast

  5. Jul 2

    Neo Black Movement of Africa or The Black Axe Confraternity | Principals & Principalities Podcast

    On July 7, 1977, nine university students in Benin City led by anti colonialist ideals and a desire to unify and eradicate classism in their universities started a confraternity. They picked up a symbolic axe to break the chains of colonialism. Nearly fifty years later, that symbol belongs to one of the world's most powerful transnational criminal organizations — responsible for over 200 deaths in Nigeria in 2024 alone, and an estimated billions of euros in annual revenue across five continents. In this episode of Principals & Principalities, host Ayomide Odubonojo-Kinoshi traces the Black Axe Confraternity from its idealistic roots in Wole Soyinka's Pyrate Confraternity, through its founding as the Neo Black Movement of Africa, to the transnational crime syndicate Europol and the FBI are tracking today. We examine the campus massacres that built its reputation for terror, the deity Korofo at the center of its blood oaths, the advance-fee scams and human trafficking networks that fund it worldwide — and the leaked documents suggesting politicians and law enforcement have protected it for decades. This episode asks the question that defines this podcast: In Nigeria, is crime ever just crime? Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on social media for behind-the-scenes research, upcoming cases, and episode drops. Follow us On⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(x)

    Neo Black Movement of Africa or The Black Axe Confraternity | Principals & Principalities Podcast

  6. May 7

    A man called Stone | Principals and Principalities Podcast

    In 1990, a well-raised boy from a good family enrolled at the University of Ibadan. He was not poor. He was not desperate. He had every reason to walk a straight path and become someone great but instead, he took an oath, changed his name to Stone — and he became one of the most dangerous cultists his community had ever seen. In this episode of Principals & Principalities, host Ayomide Odubonojo-Kinoshi tells the story of Stone — a young man whose life was influenced by Nigeria's cult underworld. A world built on blood oaths, military weapons, and a tertiary principals that looked the other way. This week we trace how a boy became Stone. We examine the 1952 origins of Nigerian cultism, the military's calculated arming of campus confraternities, and the rituals of binding that made leaving more dangerous than staying. We hear from someone who knew him — who watched it happen — and never forgot. This episode asks the question that defines this podcast: In Nigeria, is crime ever just crime? Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on social media for behind-the-scenes research, upcoming cases, and episode drops. Follow us On⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(x)

    A man called Stone | Principals and Principalities Podcast

  7. Apr 30

    Abiodun Egunjobi: Godogodo | Principals & Principalities Podcast

    On Sunday, September 9, 2012, a street in Agege, Lagos was turned into a war zone before noon. Bureau de change operators were shot on sight. A Rapid Response Squad van was ambushed and every officer inside killed. A policeman was chased down on foot, shot, and his rifle collected. The man who ordered it had been doing this — across eight states — for over a decade. His name was Abiodun Egunjobi. In Lagos, they called him Godogodo. In this episode of Principals & Principalities, host Ayomide Odubonojo-Kinoshi tells the full story of Abiodun Egunjobi — also known as Godogodo — from a scrap metal hawker sleeping on the streets of Abule-Egba, to a prison graduate who came out with a plan, to the most wanted armed robber in Lagos State for fourteen unbroken years. This week we tell the full story of Godogodo — the man who killed over 100 police officers, built six houses and fifty-two fish ponds as cover, crossed an international border to treat a gunshot wound to the face, and was so disciplined that not one of his three wives knew what he did for a living. We examine the code that kept him hidden, the gang he built, and what happened — or didn't happen — after Nigeria finally caught him. This episode asks the question that defines this podcast: In Nigeria, is crime ever just crime? Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on social media for behind-the-scenes research, upcoming cases, and episode drops. Follow us On⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(x)

    Abiodun Egunjobi: Godogodo | Principals & Principalities Podcast

  8. Apr 23

    Okwudili Ndiwe: Derico Nwamama | Principals & Principalities Podcast

    In December 2000, 55 passengers on a Lagos-to-Onitsha bus were executed at Upper Iweka Road, Onitsha. The man who ordered it was 22 years old. His name was Okwudili Ndiwe — better known as Derico Nwamama — and he was already the most wanted criminal in Southeast Nigeria. In this episode of Principals & Principalities, host Ayomide Odubonojo-Kinoshi tells the full story of Derico Nwamama in Anambra, from a market pickpocket on the streets of Onitsha, to the feared partner of Anambra crime lord Chiejina, to a one-man reign of terror that claimed over 100 lives — including 25 police officers. This week we tell the full story of Derico Nwamama who, operated a criminal syndicate remotely from Abuja. We examine the charms, the belief in Odeshi that made him feel untouchable and how he was captured by the state-sanctioned vigilante group, the Bakassi Boys. This episode asks the question that defines this podcast: In Nigeria, is crime ever just crime? Listen wherever you get your podcasts, and follow us on social media for behind-the-scenes research, upcoming cases, and episode drops. Follow us On⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Us on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠(x)

    Okwudili Ndiwe: Derico Nwamama | Principals & Principalities Podcast
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A narrative Nigerian true-crime podcast exploring Nigeria’s past and present crimes—where history, myth, rituals, and notorious crimes collide in gripping, untold stories.

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