On 18 November 1949, colonial police opened fire on striking coal miners at the Iva Valley Colliery in Enugu, killing 21 workers and injuring dozens more. The shooting became one of the most significant labour conflicts of colonial Nigeria and intensified opposition to British rule. The Coal Industry and Working Conditions Coal mining had become…
Long before Nigeria became an independent country, the British colonial authorities encountered institutions they struggled to understand. Among the most mysterious was the Ogboni Society, a powerful Yoruba institution whose origins predated British rule. To outsiders, its secrecy, ceremonies and influence over traditional government created an aura of mystery. To its members, however, it was…
Ikorodu, Lagos State, has witnessed some of the most disturbing criminal cases in Nigeria’s recent history. Among them are reports of ritual killings, suspected human-part trafficking and the activities of the notorious group popularly known as the Badoo Boys. But one cemetery-related case brought a different kind of horror: the alleged discovery of freshly harvested…
On March 22, 2014, a horrifying discovery in the Soka area of Ibadan, Oyo State, shocked Nigeria. Inside an isolated compound surrounded by thick vegetation, investigators and residents encountered decomposing bodies, human bones, skulls and personal belongings. But the most disturbing discovery was that some people were still alive. Several severely malnourished individuals were rescued…
Kano, 1982. Nigeria was still struggling to recover from the devastating Maitatsine uprising that had torn through Kano less than two years earlier when another wave of religious tension erupted in the ancient city. This time, the immediate flashpoint was not a bomb attack or an armed invasion. It was a dispute surrounding a church…
Lawrence Anini remains one of the most notorious names in Nigeria’s criminal history. In the mid-1980s, the young Benin City taxi driver became the leader of a violent gang whose robberies, shootings and clashes with security forces dominated national headlines. His story was not simply that of a criminal who suddenly appeared on Nigeria’s streets….
For decades, behind the walls of institutions scattered across Ireland, thousands of women gave birth under circumstances shaped by shame, secrecy and social rejection. Many were unmarried mothers who had become pregnant in a society where having a child outside marriage could bring disgrace upon an entire family. Their children were born into a system…
On the night of November 4, 1605, a group of conspirators came dangerously close to carrying out one of the most infamous assassination plots in British history. Their target was the English Parliament, where King James I, members of the royal family, government officials, and leading politicians were expected to gather the following morning. The…
Sexual positions are often treated as a modern subject, but the human fascination with intimacy, pleasure and sexual behavior is thousands of years old. Ancient civilizations recorded ideas about sexual relationships in literature, art, medical writings and religious traditions. Among the most famous historical sources is the Kama Sutra, an ancient Indian text traditionally associated…
Anal sex is often discussed as a modern sexual practice, but historical evidence shows that it was known in the ancient world thousands of years ago. Ancient Greek and Roman writers, artists and legal traditions left behind references that help historians understand how people thought about sex, pleasure, gender, social status and morality. However, one…