Di man wey dey battle Nigeria ‘witch-hunters’

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Activist Leo Igwe dey di forefront of efforts to help pipo wey dem accuse of witchcraft for Nigeria, as e fit destroy dia lives – and e even fit cause make dem lynch dem.

“I no fit take am any longer. You know, just to dey stay around and see as dem dey kill pipo randomly,” Dr Igwe tell di BBC.

Afta e complete im doctorate in religious studies for 2017 e dey restless. E bin don write wella about witchcraft and dey frustrate say academia no allow am seriously tackle di practice.

Di BBC don see evidence of Pentecostal pastors for Nigeria dey hold services to target alleged witches, one practice wey Dr Igwe say na normal tin for kontri wia many pipo believe in di supernatural.

Warning: Dis article carry details wey fit disturb some readers.

Wia dis foto come from,

So Dr Igwe set up Advocacy For Alleged Witches, one organisation wey focus on “use of compassion, reason, and science to save lives of dos wey dey affected by superstition”.

Dr Igwe prevention work extend to Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe and beyond.

One of di pipo di organisation don help in Nigeria na 33-year-old Jude. For August, dem bin intervene wen e bin chop accuse and dey beaten in Benue State.

Jude, na glazier, wey also dey work part-time for bank, say e bin dey on im way to work one morning, wen e meet one boy wey carry two heavy jars of water wey bin make am to comment on di boy physical agility.

Di boy no take di comments kindly, but e bin go im way.

Later, one mob of about 15 pipo bin follow Jude dey throw am stones. Among dem na di boy wey e bin greet earlier.

“Young men bin start to fight me as well, try to set me on fire,” Jude tok.

Dem accuse am say e cause make di boy penis disappear through witchcraft, accuse wey bin shock am and e no dey true.

Claims of manhood disappearances dey common for some parts of West Africa.

Na claim wey don dey linked to Koro syndrome, one mental illness wey otherwise dey sabi as missing or genital retraction hysteria.

Na one psychiatric disorder wey dey mark by one serious and irrational fear say pesin genital organs don miss or retract into di body of di victim.

Dr Igwe tok say Jude lost im job for bank sake of di stigma wey surround di accuse.

One video of di violent witch-hunting gbas-gbos also begin circulate on Facebook, wey be wen Dr Igwe and im team bin notice and begin investigate.

“Dey bin bring am [Jude] out naked, you know, brutalise,” Dr Igwe tok. “We first of all localise am – wia e dey take place?”

Wia dis foto come from, Advocacy For Alleged Witches

On WhatsApp, Dr Igwe na somethin of one influencer.

Over di last few years e don build and curate WhatsApp groups for different Nigerian states.

Dis groups dey full of dozens of concerned citizens wey e dub as “advocates”. Dem dey share viral witch-accusation videos and fotos and dey try intervene wen pesin make allegation against dia patch.

“We bin reach out to am [Jude]. We bin send am some moni to take care of im wounds. We socially dey rehabilitate am,” Dr Igwe tok.

Di group don also commit to pay Jude university fees, wey e hope sa fit provide am wit fresh start.

Many for Africa most-populous kontri believe in, and live in fear of, witches and di diabolical powers wey dem supposedly dey carry.

Financial problems, diseases or infertility often dey blamed on witchcraft.

Those wey dem accuse often dey vulnerable. Most of di time dey either dey very young or very old, sometimes dem dey get mental or physical disabilities and often dey live for poverty.

According to Nigeria Watch, one website wey dey monitor violence in di country via media reports, e get eight deaths wey directly stem from witchcraft accuse for 2024.

Di BBC never independently verify dis figures, but don previously reported on assaults and murders of pipo wey dem accuse of witchcraft in Nigeria and beyond.

Advocacy For Alleged Witches bin run public seminars for August for di World Day Against Witch Hunts.

“Belief in witchcraft or [di] supernatural in Nigeria dey cultural,” Dr Olaleye Kayode tok, one senior lecturer for African Indigenous Religions for di University of Ibadan.

“Di belief na say witches are be one supernatural beings wey God create to stir di affairs of di Earth,” e add, while e state say na ignorance dey make pipo promote witch-hunting.

E blame witch-hunting for Nigeria primarily on preaching from “foreign religions” such as Christianity and Islam, but acknowledge say traditional religions also dey “wage war” on witches.

Dr Igwe tok say some of di kontri many influential Christian Pentecostal pastors dey reinforce superstitions about witchcraft, and di view say “any alleged witch dey dangerous to di society, deserve no mercy andsuppose dey killed”.

While some of dis church events dey marketed as deliverance services, in August one of dem dey advertised wit di theme “Say Witch Must Die”.

• ‘Pipo mock me as Prophetess wey no fit deliver hersef’

Wia dis foto come from, Advocacy for Alleged Witches

Di church wey dey behind event bin trail am extensively to im 20,000 followers on social media.

Wen Dr Igwe bin see one billboard for Imo state wey dey advertise, e bn write several petitions to di local authorities, as well as some articles for local media, to try get am cancelled.

E bin go ahead anyway – though Advocacy For Alleged Witches bin sen observers and continue to lobby against similar events.

Di church wey dey responsible never responded to BBC request for comment.

No-one dey killed for di Imo state event, but di “witch-must-die” rhetoric wey dey come from churches fit lead to hatred and violence, Dr Igwe tok.

And many Nigerian churches dey against dat kind attitude.

“To cast out demons and no kill those wey dey possessed of demons na wetin we know Jesus’ ministry for,” Julius Osimen, one senior pastor for di Global Citizens Church for Lagos tok.

Oga Osimen bin describe any preaching wey encourage witch-hunting as misinterpretation of Bible verses.

“Wen Jesus bin come, e bin come wit better understanding. You no go kill pipo wey dey possessed or oppressed of demons, you go simply cast di demons out,” e say.

Dr Igwe work dey come wit personal cost. E say e don dey beaten up three times sake of say e intervene on behalf of those wey dey accused of being witches and acknowledge say im wife and children don express concerns for im safety.

But di activist say nothing go make am holdback or stop am to intervene: “My realisation na say I need step forward and try to provide leadership.”

In Nigeria, na offence to accuse, or threaten to accuse, any person say dem be witch or get di power of witchcraft.

E carry maximum two-year prison sentence. However, prosecutions and convictions no common.

In 2021 di UN Human Rights Council bin pass one resolution wey condemn human rights violations wey dey associated wit witchcraft, yet such allegations continue to go on across much of Africa, as well as further afield including in India and Papua New Guinea.

“To try to end witch-hunting na challenge and we no suppose romanticise am in any way by trying to say: ‘Oh, na part of our culture,’” Dr Igwe tok.