An advocate drew the attention of the Advocacy for Alleged Witches to the case of a woman subjected to torture, inhuman, and degrading treatment during a funeral in Imezi Olo in Ezeagu in Enugu state.
An online news media, the Oriental Times, reported the story. It states on its Facebook page: “Mother Paraded in Ezeagu Enugu State by Village Elders After Allegedly Confessing to Killing Her Two Sons Because They Confronted Her For Selling Their Fathers Properties”.
According to the report, this woman, a widow, was accused of causing the death of her 22-year-old child. Just imagine that! Local sources said that the child died as a result of an accident. There was no information explaining how the villagers knew that the woman, who was living in Kogi state, caused the death or the accident. The AfAW contacted the publisher of the Oriental Times for details of the incident and how to reach the victim. The publisher declined to provide contacts or further information on the case. Furthermore the AfAW made efforts to reach the woman or any relative through a professor of philosophy at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka and a catholic priest in Ezeagu without success.
But another effort yielded results. The AfAW contact some persons from Ezeagu living in Enugu. Someone who said he was at the funeral agreed to travel to the village to meet with the woman or her relatives. This contact traveled to Imezi Olo community and met with the relatives. He did not meet the woman. The woman had returned to Kogi state where she was when the incident happened.
The AfAW local source confirmed the incident. He noted that on the day of the funeral, some people in the community subjected the mother of the young man to “Iti Ajame” also known as “Iya Omu”. Iti Ajame or Iya Omu is a form of public disgrace and humiliation. The mob robs some ash mixed with water on the body of the person. The person is paraded around the village and forced to confess or admit to perpetrating the alleged crime.
In this case, the woman was subjected to this humiliating treatment. But local sources said that the accusations were false and the handwork of her enemies, some people in the community who hated her. Our sources further noted that her enemies got away with this public humiliation because the woman had no persons in strong socio-cultural positions who could defend her and resist the mob.
The AfAW has yet to reach the woman. Relatives declined to give out her contact. The AfAW contacted the Commissioner of Police, the police public relations officer, the International Federation of Women Lawyers, and the National Human Rights Commission office in Enugu informing them about this incident. The Advocacy for Alleged Witches condemns this pervasive trend of accusing people of magically harming others, causing sickness, death, or accident. These practices are primitive and should stop.
How could anyone think that this woman caused the death of her son? What would be her gain? The son reportedly died as a result of a motor bike accident. How was the woman responsible for that? Why should the woman be made responsible for the accident? Was she the driver? Don’t people die as a result of accidents? As this case has shown, this allegation is linked to a dispute over family property.
Such disputes are rooted in situations of limited good, stressed and strained family relationships, not harmful magic. These disputes should be resolved without linking them to baseless and mistaken allegations of perpetrating occult harm. The AfAW urges state authorities to ensure that those who made these false accusations and then subjected the woman to public disgrace, maltreatment, and humiliation in Ezeagu are punished.
Leo Igwe directs the Advocacy for Alleged Witches
