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Witch Persecution and Public Health Failures in Adamawa

Feature Article Witch Persecution and Public Health Failures in Adamawa
DEC 31, 2022 LISTEN

The Advocacy for Alleged Witches(AfAW) notes the connection between witchcraft accusations and inadequate health infrastructure in Nigeria. This observation follows the growing wave of assault, murder, and arson linked to suspicions and accusations of witchcraft and magical harm especially the recent murder of a woman, Martha Mamman in the Michika area in Adamawa. According to news reports , four persons attacked and murdered Ms. Mamman at her home. Ms. Mamman was alleged to have caused the death of some persons in the community. Her assailants stormed her home, attacked and beat her to death, and set the corpse ablaze. The AfAW contacted the police public relations officer in Adamawa. He confirmed the incident, and said that the suspects were in custody. The police officer stated that the investigation was ongoing; that police were gathering material and human evidence to prosecute the suspects. The officer noted that the police planned to engage different stakeholders, sensitize the public and dissuade people from taking laws into their hands. The AfAW plans to partner with the police, the National Human Rights Commission, and civil society organizations to sensitize the public and advocate against witch persecution and jungle justice in the state.

Unfortunately, Adamawa has witnessed rampant cases of attack, murder, and arson linked to witchcraft accusations. For instance, two hunters murdered a woman and her son for witchcraft in the state. They claimed that the mother and son mysteriously killed people and inflicted sicknesses on some members of the Gulak community. Last year the police arrested 21 persons in connection with the killing of seven persons for witchcraft in Fufore local government. In January 2021, a court in Adamawa ordered seven peopl e including some children to restore the health of a 3-year-old whom they allegedly bewitched and inflicted with a strange illness. In 2017, some people beat a pregnant woman to death after accusing her of causing the death and sickness of persons through witchcraft. As recent and previous cases have shown, these attacks and killings are connected with misinterpretation of the cause of illness and death. Witch persecution is a public health issue. Many people in Adamawa believe people can kill or make others sick through magical means.

So whenever people die under mysterious circumstances or people are afflicted with supposed strange ailments, others suspect witchcraft, they think some people within the family or community have caused the misfortune through occult means. People mistakenly believe that some individuals have inflicted the illness or caused the death through magical means. The process starts with suspicion. Those who suspect witchcraft take the matter to a local diviner, traditional or Christian priest, prophet or prophetess or a mallam who certifies the cause as spiritual and supernatural, that was after collecting some fee, goat, or chicken. The certification process includes a confirmation of those responsible for the strange death and illness. In some cases, witch hunters subject the accused to a trial by ordeal and force them to confess to bewitching people. These witch-finders and confirmers are usually illiterates, they live and operate in the villages or in the squalid parts of the city. Although they are described as traditional medicine or spiritual experts, they have little or no medical or health knowledge. These witch doctors are experts mainly in misinformation and manipulation, extortion of money, and exploitation of ignorant folks in the communities.

The tragedy is that many people in Adamawa rely on these charlatans and snake oil sellers to make sense of mysterious deaths and illnesses in their communities. They rely on these medical impostors because the health care facility is broken and inadequate. Health centers are few and far apart. Healthcare services are unaffordable and inaccessible. People are left to address their health challenges as they want, without any state support. This public health situation leaves much room for abuse, scapegoating and victimization of innocent persons such as Martha Mamman.

Witch persecution in Adamawa and other parts of the country demonstrates a failure of the public health institution, and a lack of proper health education and guidance. State health agencies need to rise to their duties of providing basic health care information and services to the communities. There is an urgent need for a massive health education program especially in rural areas. In the absence of evidence-based medical facilities, people patronize quacks and impostors; they go to illiterate traditional healers, diviners, and pastors who misinform them about the cause of death and illness. In addition to law enforcement, health institutions should endeavor to address the misinformation and disinformation about the cause of death and diseases that drive witchcraft accusations, witch persecution, and killings in Adamawa and other parts of Nigeria.

Leo Igwe directs the Advocacy for Alleged Witches which campaigns to end witch persecution in Africa by 2030.

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