Hassan Patigi, a self-proclaimed preacher and exorcist, has exploited vulnerable Nigerians seeking spiritual help, leaving a trail of abuse, torture, and extortion. This investigative report by Yunusa Umar of Wikkipost exposes Patigi’s alarming pattern of rights violations, revealing a disturbing narrative of deception and exploitation under the guise of spiritual healing.
Patigi, who claims to heal the sick and save the poor, is accused of orchestrating public humiliation, torture, and extortion during his crusades in villages across Niger and Kwara states. Victims, including those with physical ailments and barren women, recount their experiences of false promises, ritualistic acts, and financial exploitation.
The faith healer, despite claims of miraculous healings, is revealed to lack the ability to cure incurable diseases like glaucoma. Many victims, seeking remedies for ailments, faced disappointment and financial loss as Patigi’s promises of healing proved empty.
Additionally, the report uncovers Patigi’s involvement in a fraudulent scheme promising free Hajj pilgrimage slots to unsuspecting individuals. Victims paid exorbitant amounts for pilgrimage forms, only to receive black nylon bags containing faeces and leaves, symbolizing their promised funds.
Between 2020 and 2021, when the impact of Covid-19 pandemic was still raging, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria allocated a very limited number of seats to intending pilgrims in Nigeria, yet Patigi promised to sponsor thousands to Hajj.
Mohammed Usman Ndarifun, a leader of Patigi local film academy in Lade, narrated his experience to WikkiTimes.
“The cleric called and promised me Hajj, including Chief Iman and other people. We were about 26 that he promised Mecca seat. He boasted that when I got home I should inform everybody that I will be airlifted to Mecca. But he told us that the ‘lucky ones’ would pay for their forms.”
Ndarifun said he and his team did not buy the form, but many other locals who were also promised free Hajj bought the form at amounts ranging between N500 and N20,000.
Subsequently, the cleric invited those who bought the form to come to Ilorin where they would be airlifted.
Ndarifun said he did not follow others to Ilorin because of the ridiculousness of the invitation. According to him, those who travelled to Ilorin were handed a black nylon instead. They were assured that the content of the black nylon would turn to money which they would use to pay for their flight tickets.
Another victim, Mohammed Ndagi, aged 60, paid N20,000 to purchase the form. Indeed, it was his son who was promised Hajj during his visit to Hassan Patigi’s miracle centre in Patigi. The son instead asked his father to use the opportunity since he could go another time.
“I was among the promised pilgrims that went to Ilorin Airport and spent seven days there. We were later sent away from the premises of the airport. We got to the camp at midnight to meet a man whom Mallam Hassan said would contact us in Ilorin. But the man never showed up despite the fact that we called him several times.”
After spending a week in Ilorin, the man came but never gave us any information. Instead, each applicant was handed black nylon to be kept safe at home. In doing that, the nylon which contained faeces and leaf would turn out to be their promised fund.
“I was also among those he gave black nylon that would miraculously turn to money,” Ndagi told WikkiTimes.
Barren women seeking conception were not spared, as they were deceived into making financial sacrifices, with promises of miraculous pregnancies. Many endured financial losses without experiencing the promised miracles.
This reporter also interviewed several victims, especially women struggling with infertility, who were doubly exploited and misled by the faith healer.
One such victim, Maryam Umar, shared her bitter experience of being deceived and extorted by Pategi.
“Many barren women bought bread for him as part of a sacrifice to conceive,” she revealed during the interview.” I bought him N300 worth of bread when my husband and I visited him.”
She explained that she didn’t regret the offering, as her husband had given her N11,000 before leaving home.
Clearly distressed by the ordeal, Maryam spoke cautiously, hesitating to narrate the full extent of her past experience. “Our money was never returned, and I never got pregnant till now,” she said.
Another victim, Fatima Mohammed, married for nearly a decade without a child, shared her own painful encounter with Hassan Patigi.
The woman struggling with infertility was informed that Hassan Patigi could assist barren women in conceiving after making a financial sacrifice. However, in Fatima’s case, the sacrifice did not yield any results.
“I was told that he helped barren women get pregnant when they visited him,” she recounted. Intrigued by the purported miracles, she and her husband decided to visit his center.
“When my husband and I went to his center, we paid him N10,000. He instructed us to leave the money with him and come back for a refund if Idid not become pregnant. He gave me a small piece of paper with a note promising settlement.”
She never got pregnant despite numerous visits, and there was no refund either because the ink on the paper faded over time.
The couple were discouraged from seeking medical professionals for pregnancy tests. Instead, they were directed to designated individuals who charged N500 per test, with the warning that consulting certified doctors would cause their supposed spiritual pregnancies to vanish without a trace.
Another victim, Fatima Jibrin, recounted her journey from Sakpefu village in Kwara State to Mokwa in search of spiritual help from Pategi.
Recalling her experience at his miracle centre, she said, “I travelled to Mokwa and stayed there for almost a week. I learnt about his supposed miracle activities when he was in Mokwa.”
Mrs. Jibrin emphasised that she spent a significant time, one week, at his miracle centre in Mokwa.
“My husband paid him N10,000, and I, along with other barren women, sat there counting money repeatedly until he asked us to stop,” she said.
This investigation, supported by the Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), sheds light on the exploitation of vulnerable individuals by self-proclaimed ‘Men of God,’ raising concerns about the lack of government intervention and sanctions against such egregious violations.
