By Leo Igwe 

In December, I visited my hometown in southeastern Nigeria and, for the first time in decades, and spent over a week in the community where I was born. I was shocked by the pervasiveness of superstition and paranoia. I came face-to-face with the dark and toxic effects of irrational fears and anxieties. Upon arrival at the family compound, I noticed that the hand of our family’s housekeeper was swollen. I asked him what happened, and he said that he had picked up some poison while working on a farm. Picked up some poison? Does one drink or pick up poison? I asked him what he meant by that. He said that was what they said. Who said? He could not specifically say. The following day, I saw a motorcyclist in the compound praying for him and pressing the swollen part of his hand, which caused more inflammation. I was outraged, I told him to get ready, to visit the hospital.

The following day, we went to a hospital, where he is currently undergoing some treatment. Some community members confirmed that people could pick up or step on ‘poisons’ that some enemies or evil people kept. And that could cause diabetic sores, stroke, or death. A woman told me that one could buy them at local markets or from some occult experts. Nobody was able to explain to me the nature or components of these poisons, what they looked like, or how they worked. I asked and inquired for details to no avail. I met people who told me partial paralysis or stroke, diabetic sores were sent; they were not natural or some medical conditions. Some people told me that enemies used this poison to kill their parents or other relatives. And in most cases, they pointed accusing finger at other family members. In my community, no one dies a natural death. Anyone who passed away was killed. In most cases, people would say: “They have killed him” or “They have gotten him at last”. Who are ‘they’? Their neighbours, their brothers and sisters. Their relatives.

People live in constant fear of being ‘poisoned’ by others, their neighbours. These fears undermine development and community well-being. People suspect and worry that someone, usually their family or community members, was after them to make them sick or kill them through occult means. They claim these evil neighbours place spiritual poisons here and there which they could pick or step on. Though they claim to be Christians, people in my community go from one church to another,  from one prophet or pastor to another, from one traditional priest to another. They ‘spiritually’ fortify or protect themselves. People pray in Christian and traditional ways. They call on Jesus. They also invoke the ancestors. People in my community hire prayer warriors and engage in ritual sacrifices to ward off evil people and their alleged harmful schemes. At the end of the day, the people are trapped in a vicious circle of fear, poverty, paranoia, and exploitation. They are held hostage by ignorance and superstitious nonsense. 

Con artists, mischievous individuals, and other self-styled godmen and women fleece and scam them in the name of prayer, ministration, consultation, and appeasement of gods and spirits. These unscrupulous individuals extort money from community members for deliverance and exorcism. One day, I came back and saw this strange guy standing at a corner in the compound. I inquired whom he was, and I was told that he was an itinerant prayer man. He used to go from house to house to pray for people. After praying, he would ask partakers to go inside and get him some food or money. I ignored him and went into the house. Some days later, I went to visit a neighbour and saw him conducting a prayer. He collected some sand and put it in their hands, screaming and asking god to open doors for the family. Open doors? Which doors? He would scream: “Open doors. God, Open doors for this family”. And they would repeatedly chorus: Aaaamen.  Aaaamen. He went on and on, commanding God to prosper the family. He asked one of them to open the door to the living room, in an attempt to physicalize the prosperity. I observed them for a while and turned back. 

I was thinking and wondering how screaming and commanding an imaginary deity would transform the fortunes of a family. I wished those partaking in that prayer could pause and think. They should know that if god had opened doors for this prayerman, he wouldn’t be loitering around in the village, making this useless supplication. One incident that opened my eyes to the hostage and devastating effects of irrational beliefs was a case of dog stool in a neighbour’s compound. A week into my stay, I got a call from my agemate. He lives in Italy, and the family’s house was close to mine. He asked if I was in the village. I said, No. I was in a neighbouring state, Akwa Ibom, traveling for a meeting. He said he wanted me to go to his family’s house. The sister woke up that morning and saw some animal dropping, and they suspected some poop. He said, Look, they have come again. That was how they killed the parents. He said the poop was not ordinary, that someone invoked the dropping to kill or make someone in his family sick.

This friend sent me a video, where his sister, a catholic nun, recounted the incident, stating that she had poured some of Rev Ebuka’s olive oil on it and someone also urinated on it. These rituals were apparently meant to neutralize the evil magic and intent. I have been wondering how olive oil and urine could disable or neutralize evil magic. The matter was reported to the community head and tabled at the village meeting. I attended the meeting for the first time. I stayed till the issue was raised. I used the opportunity to caution attendees and the community. I warned them against the dangerous and toxic effects of baseless claims and accusations of occult harm. I drew their attention to cases of families and communities in the region damaged by such suspicions. I urged them to free their minds and consciences from irrational fears, paranoia, and superstitions.

Leo Igwe directs the Advocacy for Alleged Witches 

The Maravi Post