Blahyi, like other Krahn priests, would use visions to determine which individual would be sacrificed. Īs Blahyi noted in his memoirs, the role of high priest included overseeing human sacrifices. When he was seven years old, his father granted parental control over him to several Krahn elders, who arranged for Blahyi to be a warrior and initiated him as a high priest in 1982, when he was at the age of eleven. He was born into a Krahn family, some of whom resided in Sinoe County, located in the south of the country among the Krahn people, belief in child sacrifice and black magic was common. Joshua Milton Blahyi was born on Septemin Monrovia, Liberia. The public testimony brought mixed reactions and led to international attention, leading Blahyi to be featured in several documentaries.Įarly life Blahyi fought on the side of Samuel Doe (pictured) during the First Liberian Civil War. In 2008, Blahyi testified at the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, claiming that his victims numbered at least 20,000 individuals. During the conflict, Blahyi and his men, a group of soldiers known as the Naked Base Commandos, fought without clothing and perpetrated numerous atrocities, including child sacrifice and cannibalism.īlahyi abandoned his life as a warlord and turned to preaching after undergoing a religious conversion in 1996, attributing these actions to receiving a vision of Jesus. Blahyi joined ULIMO, a rival militia group, and operated primarily around the Monrovia area. In 1989, National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) rebel leader Charles Taylor launched a rebellion against Doe's regime, sparking a civil war. Tolbert in 1980, the new regime employed Blahyi to perform black magic rituals at the presidential palace in Monrovia to help him win the 1985 general election. Doe staged a coup d'état against President William R. After Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) officer Samuel K. During the conflict, Blahyi led a group of soldiers which fought on the side of rebel group United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO) before converting to Christianity and becoming a pastor in 1996.īorn in the Liberian capital of Monrovia to a Krahn family, Blahyi was handed by his father to several tribal elders who initiated him as a high priest in 1982 at the age of eleven. Joshua Milton Blahyi (born September 30, 1971), better known by his nom de guerre General Butt Naked, is a Liberian evangelical preacher, writer and former warlord best known for his actions during the First Liberian Civil War.
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