Badoo: The anti-social network we thought Facebook had bought

by Alexander O. Onukwue

The first mention of ‘Badoo’ for some people had really been about the social networking site, focused on dating and dalliances. But it has not been big in Nigeria since its launch in 2006 so that when you turned your Twitter and saw it was trending, you only reluctantly presumed it was the latest acquisition in the Mark Zuckerberg push to monopolise social media.

Then the conversation became about killings, stabbing, and the burning of people and it became clear that the Yankee platform is actually called /baduu/. On the other hand, this Nigerian ‘phenomenon’ phonetically ending with an ‘o’ is a vicious anti-social network that has left a trail of terror and grief since its launch since God knows when.

Like most people found on social media, the cult group resident and operational in Ikorodu are populated by active youth, mostly male but with possible female wings. Their purpose is not love, dating or the exchange of snaps, but to kill, to steal and to destroy. They have killed people with reckless abandon and the retaliatory attempt by residents – or a counter group – to mob them has led to many tragic and innocent deaths.

The origins of the cult is not yet known, but it does appear to have been around a while. Local sites like InsideMainland have had stories about their usual storms, but it is ironic that much of the attention that has come to covering it recently has been the killing of innocents resulting from the effort to cut them down.

Badoo’s infamy has made the possession of whistles and machetes a necessity for some households, according to the Vanguard. Nobody really wants to be chopped and burnt in the middle of the night as many have been, and with the new attack at a Church, one wonders whether church attendants would choose to provide an extra accessory for their Bibles.

Ikorodu is restless because of Badoo, turning it into a literal no-go area. It is a menace that has the possibility of spreading its toxicity, and just as the policies of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are strict and decisive in rooting our unacceptable behaviour, authorities must act swiftly to put a definitive end to this wild anti-social network.

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