Even though there have been a lot of campaigns against harmful traditional and cultural discriminatory practices and inhumane treatment that take away people’s rights and privileges, some of these practices are still happening in many Igbo land communities, causing anger and breaking up communities that were once peaceful.
In some Igbo communities, charges of witchcraft and diabolism are the most common things that cause brothers, sisters, families, and friends to fight.
This happens a lot in communities in Ebonyi State. According to Vanguard, many innocent people have been paraded naked, assaulted, tortured, or killed by young people who say they are witches or demons. Their homes have also been demolished.
Some of the victims were said to have utilized magic to kill their family members or other people in the neighborhood.
In a lot of situations, those who were up to no good supposedly worked with local prophets and traditional priests to do the bad thing.
Because of the false accusations, local mobs would torture the victims, treat them in ways that were inhumane, and even make them take an oath by forcing them to drink harmful and poisonous drinks that sometimes killed them or destroyed vital organs, which eventually led to their deaths.
Some people said they saw folks being treated like animals and sent away in the state.
Reports from rural areas like Izzi, Okposi, Afikpo, Ohaukwu, Ishielu, Ezza North, Ezza South, and other places corroborated that the bad things happened.
Joseph Agwu, who lived in Ekwashi, Ngbo autonomous community, Ohaukwu Local Government Area of the state, was one of the victims. On August 4, 2025, he was kicked out of his community after the locals tormented him by tying palm fronds all over his body and parading him around the community, even in market squares. He was accused of killing his brother’s child and other people in the neighborhood through witchcraft. People reported that his things, like his two compounds, had been set on fire. He was sent away for five years, even though their traditional king begged him not to.
Since August 4, the 70-year-old has been hiding out at his mother’s house.
He told his story: “I am from the Ekwashi Ngbo independent community in the Ohaukwu Council of Ebonyi State. I had four wives. One is late, and the other three have a lot of kids and grandkids for me.
“This happened on August 4, 2025, and I’ve been living with my mother in Umuezeaka autonomous Community ever then. I escaped to my mother’s house for refuge when my people tortured me to the point of death, which was against the orders of our traditional king.
“My attackers said that when I was drunk at a funeral, I told them I killed them.” But I have to be honest with you: I’m not a wizard; I’m a typical worshiper. I haven’t killed anyone.
“If I ever killed anyone, I don’t want to see the next day. I want moving cars to kill me on the road as I ride my bike, so that vultures can eat my flesh and I won’t get a proper burial.”
“One of my brothers said that I admitted to killing his child who died years ago and a lot of other people when I was drunk. I didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t cause problems. I am a good farmer. They worked together to scare me out of my town so they could take over my huge farms and lands.
“When our traditional leader heard about the event, he told my accusers to stop hitting me and go to my compounds to look for proof of what they said. He told them to set up the oath-taking process, as is our custom, to show that I am innocent or not. But they didn’t listen to any of his directions.
“My kids who tried to stop them from attacking me were also attacked. The search teams didn’t uncover any proof in my compounds that supported their assertions.
“I also learned that they accused one of my wives of hiding my religious items and forced her to swear an oath, but they wouldn’t let me swear an oath because I was the main suspect.They have even been here to intimidate my family on my mother’s side to kick me out.
“One of my brothers gave the fuel that was used to demolish my property. I want the government and everyone else who wants to assist me receive justice and go back home.
There is also the case of 65-year-old Nnennaya Donatus-Chukwu from Mebiokpa Amaeke in the Okposi community of Ohaozara Council. Along with two other community members, she was tortured by the village youths who accused her of killing her husband’s nephew, Innocent Chukwu, through witchcraft.
According to reports, the late Innocent Chukwu died in a car accident on his way home from Calabar, Cross River State. The woman and two other elders in the family complex were accused of killing him because they had previously disagreed with his choice of building location, which they believed was too close to their family god.
The young people who were protesting stole and broke everything in both my family’s compound and my first son’s. They said that we wouldn’t have a house to live in because Innocent wouldn’t be living to live in it. I’m glad my kids weren’t home because they would have died.
“Up until now, I hadn’t had any problems with Innocent, the mother, or anyone else. The more I attempted to explain that I didn’t do anything wrong, the more they hit me.
“I was hauled before our traditional leader, who said that the young people were to fault for assaulting me and breaking my family’s things. He told them to turn us over to the police in Obiozara so they could do more thorough investigations and bring us to court. But they said no.
“They said no and escorted me and the other two people back to our compound. They cleansed the dead man’s face, mouth, armpits, and genitals, added four kola nuts, and made us drink the water to prove we were innocent. They kicked us out of the village after the oath and told us we couldn’t come back until after our next new yam festival, if we were still alive.
“I beg the state administration, the wife of the governor of Ebonyi State, NGOs, the National Human Rights Commission, human rights advocates, security agencies, and other groups to assist me receive justice. She said, “They said I killed someone who died in a car accident in the city the same day and time I was making palm oil in our village.”
Kingsley Ibeh was also accused of witchcraft in Afikpo. He added that people in the neighborhood blamed him for bad things that happened, even the deaths of certain community members, which they said were caused by his diabolism.
His accusers prepared human waste with fermented cassava and put it all over his body. They then stripped him nude, tied a rope around his waist, and told ladies to walk him around the market. He said this happened in June of this year.
Mrs. Onwe Nwamaka and her kids were kicked out of their home in Ebele village, which is in the same Ohaukwu Council as Umuogudu Akpu Ngbo. Her husband was also kicked out for being a witch.
Nwamaka told her story: “I’ve been married to my spouse for nine years. My husband’s family has had a lot of problems since I married him.
This year, one of his brothers got sick and died. His brothers said that he was the one who killed him. My spouse informed his brothers that he didn’t do it. But they still got locals to beat him up so badly that he almost died and hurt him badly. They kicked him out of the community, and they also kicked me and our kids out.
“They tore down my husband’s houses and ruined all he owns. I don’t have a father, a mother, or anyone else. I brought my kids to the place where I grew up. A few months back, I went to our farm to help my husband pick crops. The villagers heard about it and came to beat me up.
“They took all the crops from our four farms and ruined the farms.” Our traditional monarch has been giving us food since they took all of our crops and ruined our farms. I haven’t seen or heard from my husband since they kicked him out in 2022. My kids are no longer in school.
The villagers also hurt Thomas Eze, who is from Ebele, Umuogudu Akpu, which is also in the Ngbo community. One of the villagers said he buried a charm on his farm and that he was to blame for the bad luck that certain people in the community had. He was kicked out of the community.
“Our traditional leader took me in and started to care for me. I’d like to go back to my village. The government should help me.
Eze Godwin Ugadu Ogba, the traditional ruler of the Ngbo village, criticized the conduct and called it “barbaric, wicked, and unconstitutional.”
He said he was sad because the people who did the bad things didn’t listen to him when he told them to stop. He promised to work with the right groups to get rid of the problem in the town.
“Some people in Ebele are driving people out of the village because they think they are witches.” These individuals don’t act like humans, and I’ve been telling them to stop kicking people out because what they’re doing is against the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I brought back the people they had kicked out of the community, but they wouldn’t let them stay.
“I have been telling these people who are doing all these things that what they are doing is against the law in Nigeria.” I went to the Human Rights Commission to protest about this so that it would cease. “I won’t let them keep dehumanizing and sending people away,” he stated.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the state are stated to be interested in rights abuses and working to stop them.
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