Witchcraft in Nigeria: Di man wey dey fights ‘witch hunters’

Activist Leo Igwe is at the forefront of efforts to help them bring charges of witchcraft to Nigeria because it is a convenient reason to destroy their lives and even lynch them.

“I am no longer eligible. You know, just to see them stick around and randomly kill Pipo,” Dr Igwe told the BBC.

They are uneasy after completing my doctorate in religious studies in 2017. They don’t write well about witchcraft and are disappointed that the academy won’t let me seriously engage in the practice.

The BBC sees no evidence that Pentecostal pastors in Nigeria are serving to target alleged witches; Dr. Igwe says there is no normal way to confront many who believe in the supernatural.

Warning: This article contains details that may be disturbing to some readers.

That’s why Dr Igwe founded Advocacy For Alleged Witches, an organization focused on “using compassion, reason and science to save the lives of people affected by superstition.”

Dr Igwe’s prevention work extends to Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe and beyond.

One of the organizations in Nigeria is also helping 33-year-old Jude. In August, they intervened on charges and were beaten in Benue State.

Jude, a glazier, we also work part time at the bank, let’s say I go to work one morning, we meet a child, we carry two heavy jars of water and I comment on the child’s physical agility.

Boy, I don’t take kindly to your comments, but that’s what I do.

Then a crowd of about 15 people follow Jude and throw rocks at me. Among them, we greeted the boy earlier.

“The young men are also starting to fight with me, trying to set me on fire,” said Jude tok.

They say I caused the boy’s penis to disappear through witchcraft, they shock me and it’s not true.

Claims of loss of masculinity are common in parts of West Africa.

We do not claim to be linked to Koro syndrome, a mental illness that might otherwise be considered loss or genital withdrawal hysteria.

It can be a sign of any psychiatric disorder, a sign of serious and irrational fear; for example, we can say that the genitals do not penetrate or penetrate the victim’s body.

Dr Igwe said Jude lost his job because of the stigma around the accusations.

A video of the violent witch hunt gbas-gbos also began circulating on Facebook, but Dr Igwe and his team noticed it and began investigating.

“They are taking me (Jude) out naked, behaving brutally,” Dr Igwe tok said. “First of all, are we localizing these to happen?”

Dr. Igwe seems to be an influencer on WhatsApp.

For the last few years, I have been creating and managing WhatsApp groups for different states in Nigeria.

These groups are filled with dozens of concerned citizens called “advocates.” They share viral witch accusation videos and photos and try to intervene when accusations are made against Dia Patch.

“We are contacting Am (Jude). We’re sending me some money to take care of my injuries. We are rehabilitating socially,” Dr Igwe tok said.

The group is also not committing to paying Jude’s college fees, hoping I can get a fresh start.

Many people in Africa’s most populous continents believe in and live in fear of witches and the demonic powers they supposedly carry.

Financial problems, illnesses or infertility are often attributed to witchcraft.

Those accused are often left defenseless. They are often either very young or very old, sometimes mentally or physically disabled, and often live in poverty.

According to Nigeria Watch, a website that tracks violence in the country through media reports, there are eight deaths for 2024 directly resulting from accusations of witchcraft.

The BBC has never independently verified these figures, but has not previously reported on the attacks and murders of scores of people accused of witchcraft in Nigeria and beyond.

Advocating for Alleged Witches held public seminars in August for World Day Against Witch Hunts.

Dr., senior lecturer on African Indigenous Religions at the University of Ibadan. “Belief in witchcraft or (the) supernatural is cultural in Nigeria,” Olaleye Kayode tok said.

“Witches are believed to be supernatural beings created by God to stir things up on Earth,” he adds, although the state says they encourage witch hunts out of ignorance.

He blames the witch hunt in Nigeria primarily on preaching from “foreign religions” such as Christianity and Islam, but acknowledges that traditional religions also “wage war” against witches.

Dr Igwe says some influential Christian Pentecostal pastors are reinforcing superstitions about witchcraft, saying “any alleged witch is dangerous to society, undeserving of mercy, and presumed to be killed”.

While some of these church events were marketed as deliverance services, one in August was advertised with the theme “Say the Witch Must Die.”

The church is behind the event box trail and I have reached 20,000 followers on social media.

Dr Igwe bin saw a billboard advertising them for Imo state and wrote several petitions to local authorities and some articles for local media to get it cancelled.

Go ahead anyway – but Advocacy for Alleged Witches is tracking watchdogs and continuing to lobby against similar incidents.

Those responsible for the church never responded to the BBC’s request for comment.

Dr Igwe said no one was killed as a result of the Imo state incident, but the “witch must die” rhetoric coming from churches led to hatred and violence.

And many Nigerian churches oppose such attitude.

“We know the ministry of Jesus, to cast out demons and not to kill those who have demons,” said Julius Osimen, a senior pastor of Tok Global Citizens Church, Lagos.

Oga Osimen bin defines any sermon that encourages witch hunts as a misinterpretation of Bible verses.

“When Wen Jesus came, he came with a better understanding. “You don’t kill pipes that are possessed or oppressed by demons, you just go and exorcise the demons,” he says.

Dr Igwe’s work comes at a personal cost. Just because I say they were beaten three times, I intervene on behalf of those accused of being witches, and I acknowledge that my wife and children have not expressed concern for my safety.

But the activist says nothing will hinder me or interfere: “My awareness tells me that I must step forward and try to provide leadership.”

In Nigeria, it is not a crime to accuse or threaten to accuse anyone who says they are a witch or have witchcraft powers.

E carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison. But prosecutions and convictions are not common.

In 2021, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning human rights violations linked to witchcraft, but such allegations persist across much of Africa and further afield, including India and Papua New Guinea.

“We don’t think we’re romanticizing the witch hunt in any way by trying to end it with a challenge and say, ‘Oh, it’s not part of our culture,'” Dr Igwe tok said.

“Don’t be part of our culture in a way that kills our parents. “Do not become part of our culture to kill innocent Pipo.”