Fact-Check: Are Manhood Snatching, Genital Disappearance Possible? – Medical Experts Speak
Claim: The Nigerian media is flooded with reports of individuals from various states, including Abuja, Nasarawa, Bauchi, Kogi, Delta, Calabar, and Akwa Ibom, claiming to have experienced genital disappearance after alleged contacts with perpetrators. These incidents have often led to cases of lynching, mob actions and jungle justice.
Full Text: Reports of cases of missing genitals have populated both media reports and social media conversations with even skits makers jumping into the fray.
Recently, residents of the Lugbe Area of Abuja mobbed two people after they were accused of genital theft.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday, October 9, 2023, in the Zone 9 area of the community.
It was gathered that a resident, Abdulrasheed Jeje, raised an alarm claiming that his genital was missing after having a contact with two young men who asked him for directions in the area.
Earlier, on October 6th, Karu and its environs were thrown into uproar following reports of mysterious male genital disappearance. It was gathered that in the past three weeks, more than 10 people in the communities reportedly lost their organs to some suspected ritualists yet to be apprehended.
Within the same period, reports of pandemonium in Kurudu area of Abuja emerged as genital organs of two persons was declared missing.
The incident caused fear among traders, residents and commuters, forcing markets and shops to close abruptly.
In Abuja, the case of missing male genital organ is on the rise. Virtually every part of Abuja is recording a case or two on daily basis. It has been reported in several areas in Abuja, including Karu, Maraba, Gwagwa, Lugbe, Kubwa, among several places.
Similarly, a naval personnel in Calabar, the capital of Cross River state reported that his penis has been stolen by “private part thieves” in the state.
The naval officer was monitoring the barracks’ entry point when a young guy identified as Samuel stepped in and was ordered to the sentry station for security screening.
Azeez, a naval personnel told reporters: “When he got to the sentry point, he was asked whom he was looking for and his mission in the barracks but while he was talking with the sentry officer, the man felt an electric jolt around his genitals and behold, when he touched the area, his private part had gone.”
In similar news, a mob had assembled to lynch two persons after a man, who pleaded to remain anonymous, said that his penis and testicles had vanished. However, jungle justice was averted when police arrived the site.
The incidence occurred in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, at the roundabout between Akai Effa (MCC Road) and the GoodLuck Ebele Jonathan bypass road.
Witnesses at the scene claim that when the man noticed his penis was missing, he quickly raised the alarm, took off his pants, and was horrified by what he discovered.
In Delta, residents of Asaba, Delta State were greeted in rude shock when a 45- year old trader at the popular Ogbeogonogo market raised the alarm that his organ suddenly disappeared after he allegedly hugged a trader in the same market with him.
What used to elicit wonder about how real the phenomenon could be, resulted in commotion in Asaba the Delta state capital when the purported victim kept shouting himself down that his manhood had allegedly disappeared after the hug from his co trader in the market.
But the Police Public Relations Officer ( PPRO) at the Delta State Police Command, DSP Bright Edafe however dismissed it as untrue, disclosing that six suspects have been arrested for interrogation, warning members of the public to desist from unfounded rumours that may set Nigeria on fire.
Similar case in the state that turned out to be untrue when the suspect raised the false alarm and about 100 touts pounced on the woman and almost lynched her before Policemen arrived the scene and rescued her.
Unfortunately, an unidentified member of the Living Faith Church, popularly known as Winners Chapel, was not so lucky after he was lynched by a mob after someone accused him of snatching his manhood.
The man was allegedly preaching at Adeyi Junction in One Man Village, Nasarawa State when he was accused and then lynched by a mob.
Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State witnessed a similar trend of manhood disappearance.
Consequently, commercial motorcycle operators commonly called Okada, in Kogi State capital, Lokoja embarked on strike as they alleged that passengers accuse them of being responsible for their missing genital organs in the cause of transacting business with them.
Their displeasure with the unscrupulous passengers was made known by their state Chairman, Malam Umar Muhammed who vented their anger while interacting with newsmen in Lokoja.
Two weeks later the Kogi State Police Command paraded three suspects for false alarm that led to the lynching of a man accused of snatching their manhood.
In Imo, a yet to be identified man was reportedly arrested by Security agents for “snatching” the manhood of another man.
In a video making the rounds on social media, the victim said he went out to fetch water for his boss, and while on his way back, he decided to drop the bucket so he could catch his breath. He said it was at this time that the suspect accosted him. He said the suspect used his hand to touch his manhood and that it instantly began to change. He said he immediately raised an alarm and people started to beat the man.
Verification: To ascertain the veracity of these claims of disappearing human genitals, PRNigeria Fact Checkers conducted a week long investigation, observation, monitoring and expert interviews and analysis of the situation.
First, PRNigeria fact checkers conducted interviews with several Public Health Physicians in the Federal Capital Territory all of who confirmed they have had to contend with barrages of reports of missing genitals on the line of duty.
They however confirm that on physical examination by medical doctors the genitals are physically there but the patients claim they don’t feel it.
“I can confirm to you that there is no single case or report whether based on research or during peer review and conversations with colleagues where the genital is found to have been totally flat and missing,” one of the Public Health Physicians who pleaded anonymity for lack of authority to speak on the matter to PRNigeria Fact Desk.
This comment matched findings from our monitoring mechanism where all effort to detect if there have been a single case of any alleged victim who had a totally flat area as a result of such an encounter turned up no affirmative result on our monitoring radar.
PRNigeria then contacted the Metro Police Area Commander where ACP Olabisi Davies revealed that most of the related cases it is handling turned out to be false alarms which it has currently moved to tackle.
While seeking clarification on the alleged missing vaginas by women in FCT, Mrs Olabisi Davies, who is Assistant Police Commissioner, told PRNigeria that after a proper investigation, the allegations were found to be false.
She said: “One of the women claimed that she lost her vagina after seeking for direction from another woman. We took both of them to the hospital for medical examination where the doctor revealed that their organs were not missing.
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“For the other case of another woman who also claimed that her ‘Toto’ (vagina) was missing, we asked her to go home with her husband for confirmation. They came back and said nothing had happened and that everything was intact.
“So, the claims about missing genital or vaginas in both instances were false.
“We have discovered that some of those involved, fraudulently used the allegations for extortions, claiming that they need money to treat themselves.”
In a different twist, a victim of alleged penis theft in Bauchi state has announced his recovery from the incident even though the alleged “manhood thief” died before he had the chance to “restore” it.
PRNigeria reports that the Bauchi Police Command had paraded some suspects for allegedly playing a role in the manhood snatching incident.
In a video obtained by PRNigeria, the victim, Usman Sale, narrated how his body suddenly became numb after he shook hands with one of the suspects named Bitrus Yonana.
“It didn’t disappear, it just shrunk totally and I could still ease myself normally… I got some prescribed drugs and many herbal medications that I am currently taking to restore my manhood.”
PRNigeria gathered that after undergoing full medical treatment, Sale’s manhood is now fully back and functional.
Speaking to PRNigeria on the matter, Dr Nasiru Rahman, a Senior Registrar in Urology at the Federal Medical Center, Abuja said the phenomenon is medically impossible, however there are cases where weather condition or human physiology can play a role in the shrinking of manhood – as in during cold weather and or involving an obese individual.
“When environment is cold it might reduce the size because it is made of of three cylinders that are spongy inside, the volume of blood inside it determines the size…during cold weather the blood will move to the other part of the body and it becomes small, as soon as the temperature becomes normal it resizes.”
He explained that another condition that may cause the genital to shrink is psychiatric disorder which may reduce blood flow to the penis but may become normal after undergoing treatment.
He advises patients with such conditions to visit the hospital in order to undergo appropriate counseling.
Dr Abdulaziz T. Bako, a US based Medical Doctor and a Population Health and Outcomes Researcher, corroborated Dr Rahman.
“Most of the time people just raise alarm about their missing genitals and everyone believes the claim, they are not taken to the hospital for inspection by a Doctor and the claim is usually corroborated by some admissions by a person who is being.accused of stealing it.
“Usually that happens because that person has been beaten up a lot by the mob and they are just admitting it to save their own lives rather than because they have actually stolen anything. I think it is important for people to avoid these kinds of mob actions.”
He explained that many factors can cause a person to feel as if their testicles are missing.
“Individuals can be psychologically impaired which lead to them not feeling any part of their body but when examined by a health professional, you will find the testicles intact.”
He further explained that another factor can be what is medically termed as cremasteric reflex.
The cremasteric reflex is a reflex in males that causes the muscles of the cremaster to contract, lifting the testicle in response to a stimulus, typically the stroking or tapping of the inner thigh. This reflex helps protect the testes by pulling them closer to the body when exposed to cold or other stimuli. It’s an example of a normal reflex, and its absence can sometimes indicate a neurological or medical issue.
“The human testicles are wrapped up in a bag call scrotum, within that bag we have the chlimoster muscle and that muscle can contrast and pull the testicles up towards the abdomen, towards the groin that is important in maintaining the temperature of the testicles which allows for the production of sperm cells because the testicles should be a little bit colder than the rest of the abdomen or body. Sometimes it can pull up the muscle way up to an extent that you cannot feel it and this condition is called an overactive cremasteric reflex,” Dr Bako explained.
This heightened reflex can result in the testicles being pulled up into the groin area more often than necessary.
“These make the testicles move way up to the extent that it’s not felt and it occurs to some group of individuals as a result of cold, strong fear or any sort of emotion, even laughter.”
While emphasising that it is important to realize that this could happen, he further explained that another factor could be the issue of retractile penis, also known as a hidden or buried penis which is a condition where the penis can retract into the fat pad of the pubic area, making it less visible when flaccid.
“This could occur due to a lot of factors such as infection which could lead to fibrosis especially the spongy tissue of the penis and that might lead to shrinking in size, while it might also be due to obesity where the penile organ pulls towards their body as is engulfed by the soft tissue and fat around their abdomen.
Bako, who observed that the alarms over missing genitals are much more psychological than anything physical, explained the reason why there is always erectile dysfunction or improper erection when alarmists try to stimulate their organ after an incident.
According to him, “When there is anxiety or grave fear it leads to a hyperactive sympathetic nervous system activation and makes it almost impossible to have erection because we need our parasympathetic nervous system to be active when we are to have erection for sexual enjoyment, so that activation due to intense fear might lead them to think their organ is stolen or inactive.”
He advised that whenever there’s such an incident, people should endeavor to avoid mob action but take these cases to a hospital for the attention of a Urologist and Psychologist.
On his part, Professor Baba Awoye Issa the Chief Medical Director, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Budo-Egba, Kwara State linked the situation to what is medically termed “Koro Syndrome” a form of anxiety disorder and a culture bound disease that occurs during epidemic.
“Even what is happening now is an epidemic, because one person raises alarm, fear and anxiety grips everyone and because we value our genitalia and we don’t want anything to happen to it so there is an intense fear of not wanting to lose your organ, this grips people who believe in it and it becomes an epidemic.
“For example, seven months ago you probably didn’t hear of it, but when people started to report it, it spread all over leading to mob action and extra judicial killings.”
PRNigeria reports that Koro Syndrome also known as genital retraction syndrome or shrinking penis syndrome, is a culture-bound syndrome characterized by an intense and irrational fear in some individuals that their genitals (usually the penis) are retracting or shrinking into their body, leading to the belief that they may lose their genitalia.
This syndrome is typically found in specific cultural or geographic regions and is often associated with anxiety and panic.
Koro syndrome is a psychological condition with cultural and psychological factors and not a medical or physical disorder as there is no actual physical retraction or shrinking of the genitals.
Treatment for individuals experiencing Koro syndrome typically involves psychoeducation, therapy, and addressing the underlying anxiety or cultural factors contributing to the belief.
Professor Issa who is an experienced Psychiatrist with a demonstrated history of working in the mental health care industry further explained that it is a psychosexual conflict and personality factor and nothing more.
“When a patient is brought in, in the presence of other health workers of the persons gender, their family and the security personnel who accompanied the case, we undress the person and we always find penis or vagina there,” he said.
According to him, in such situation, they usually make the patient undergo psychological therapy by explaining the nature of the illness, if the person still does not believe, they are admitted for a day or two and their manhood is restored.
“When you ask them to go and make love to their legitimate spouse they find it working! So all these alarms about missing genitals are nothing but Koro Syndrome brought by culture bound anxiety disorder and it is treatable by psycho therapy while underlying factors are treated accordingly.” He confirmed.
He concludes that Africa and probably Asia may see more of these kinds of situations because we are still bound in our culture and belief in supernatural causes of things while advanced societies like the United States or United Kingdom may probably never hear of it.
Conclusion: findings by PRNigeria reveal that reports of claims of missing genitals are founded on psychological disorders such as Koro Syndrome which leads to intense anxiety disorder or hyperactive sympathetic nervous system activation. While there could also be other physical and environmental factors such as cremasteric reflex, and retractile penis syndrome.
Most of the reported cases when examined by medical professionals reveal the presence of the organs. This is in addition to the fact the psychological effects can be treated through counseling and possibly prescriptions for recovery.
PRNigeria therefore concludes that reports that genitals are missing or stolen is MISLEADING.
