Group Condemns Detention Of Alleged Witches In Adamawa

By Idris Khalid

The Northern co-ordinator for Advocacy for Alleged Witches, Aliyu Bashir Limanci, has condemned as unacceptable, the decision by a judge in Song Local government of Adamawa state to detain four people remanded in prison custody for allegedly killing one and torturing another.

Limanci in a press release issued to journalists in Bauchi yesterday, said that no evidence or any law in Nigeria that allows people to be detained over accusations of witchcraft.

It could be recalled that on 3rd November, 2021 a Chief Magistrate Court in Yola, Adamawa state presided over by Adamu Abdulrazak remanded four men in prison custody for allegedly holding two people in a trance and torturing them through witchcraft. The accused persons are Sani Bolere Baban Yello, Kero Jediel, Babangida Amos and Zebulum Benjamin.

Group said: “Our stance is that witchcraft is a superstition and there is no evidence or any law in Nigeria that allows people to be detained over accusations of witchcraft.

“We at the Advocacy for alleged witches are against any persecution of people over a superstition called witchcraft because there is no scientific evidence or man-made laws that acknowledge its existence. A lot of people are being falsely accused of witchcraft, the accusations they know nothing about. Many of these people are ostracized, persecuted and some of them will never be able to get back to their normal life due to discrimination,” he added.

The group has promised to follow their cases and ensure they are set free by providing the suspects with legal supports.