Health
Hunted to death: Brutal fate of vulnerable women branded witches
A whisper of witchcraft is all it takes to destroy a life. In some communities, elderly women, widows and other vulnerable people are hunted, tortured, banished and even killed after being branded witches, often without a shred of evidence. In this report, VICTOR AYENI exposes the human cost of superstition, the culture of impunity that sustains it, and the lives shattered by accusations rooted in fear rather than fact
If Habse Ubale had known that the men approaching her home on July 28, 2026, were coming to kill her, she might have fled to safety far away from Garin Malam Village in Gamawa Local Government Area of Bauchi State, where she lived.
The 30-year-old might have sought refuge with relatives, neighbours or the police. Instead, she remained in the place she had called home, unaware that accusations of witchcraft had marked her for death.
At 2 am, while most residents were asleep, three men allegedly broke through the door and descended on the woman, her husband, Audu Sabo, and their two children, Yakubu and Salih, with sticks and a machete.
The principal suspect, Garba Daudu, had allegedly conspired with two others, Ya’u Garba and Musa, whose full identities have yet to be established, to invade the family’s residence over allegations that Ubale was a witch.
Such superstitious accusations are often impossible to prove or disprove. Yet, in many parts of Nigeria, a mere allegation of witchcraft can trigger mob violence, leaving the accused vulnerable to assault, displacement or even extrajudicial killing.
Unfortunately, Ubale had no opportunity to defend herself against the allegations or prove her innocence. Her assailants hacked her repeatedly with machetes as she pleaded for her life.
Sabo and their two children managed to escape but sustained varying degrees of injuries.
According to the Bauchi State Police Command, the incident was reported to the Gamawa Divisional Police Headquarters by a 45-year-old resident of the community.
A combined team of police officers, hunters and vigilantes was immediately deployed to the scene, while the victims were evacuated to the General Hospital, Gamawa, for treatment.
Any hope that Ubale might survive was dashed when a medical doctor confirmed her dead.
As grief engulfed her family and neighbours, one of the injured victims remained hospitalised, while the other two received treatment and were later discharged.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Nafiu Habib, said one suspect had been arrested, while the other two fled the scene.
“At present, preliminary investigation has been concluded, and the case was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Bauchi, for discreet investigation and possible prosecution,” he added.
Women unfairly targeted
Habse’s death is not an isolated incident. In some states in Nigeria, elderly women, widows and other vulnerable people have repeatedly found themselves at the mercy of mobs determined to punish them for alleged supernatural powers.
Findings by Saturday PUNCH showed that witchcraft accusations are rarely about evidence of supernatural practices.
They often reflect existing power imbalances, with elderly women and widows becoming easy targets because of gender inequality, economic vulnerability and deeply rooted social beliefs.
In 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution condemning human rights violations associated with witchcraft, yet such allegations continue to persist across much of Africa, as well as further afield, including India and Papua New Guinea.
In March 2023, the Pan-African Parliament, the legislative arm of the African Union, launched its Guidelines for Parliamentarians on Accusations of Witchcraft and Ritual Attacks, building on the UN Human Rights Council’s Resolution 47/8, adopted in July 2021.
The guidelines place particular emphasis on protecting vulnerable groups, including women, children, older persons, and persons with disabilities or albinism.
They also urge AU member states to criminalise violence, torture, banishment and killings arising from witchcraft accusations.
However, despite Nigeria’s membership in the African Union since 1963, allegations of witchcraft continue to fuel mob violence in several regions of the country.
In February last year, 50-year-old Hajara Saleh was allegedly murdered by three men in Bantine community in Biu LGA of Borno State over an accusation of practising witchcraft.
The suspects, Ja’o Muhammad, Idrisa Muhammad and Ya’u Muhammad, aged between 20 and 30 years, reportedly accused the deceased of bringing misfortune to the community and conspired to eliminate her.
After the gruesome attack, Saleh sustained injuries to her neck, legs and hands, resulting in her death.
According to the police, the suspects are facing charges of criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide and other related offences, adding that they will be prosecuted once investigations are concluded.
‘She transformed into a bird’
On January 21, 2025, a series of disturbing videos went viral across social media platforms, sparking widespread reactions.
In an eight-minute, 54-second video shared on X by a user, Teeniola (@Teniiola), an elderly woman, later identified as Mrs Ojo Kehinde, could be seen sitting in what appeared to be a rocky, open canal at night.
Frail and visibly distressed, she leaned against a rugged rock embankment. Broken cement blocks and rubble littered the ground around her, while the scene appeared to be illuminated by the light from a mobile phone.
As the video unfolded, a woman questioned Mama Ojo in Yoruba about her identity and destination.
“Where were you going and which town are you from?” the woman asked.
Summoning what little strength she had, the elderly woman replied, “I am from this area, from Mummy Ile Onipako.”
The questioning continued.
“Where is Ile Onipako?” a woman with a stern voice asked.
“Ile Osoba in Oke Bode,” Mama Ojo responded in a trembling voice.
She appeared frightened and struggled to speak.
Saturday PUNCH learned that the incident unfolded in Oke-Ijeun, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Our correspondent gathered that the elderly woman was walking around the area at about 9 pm on January 20 when she tripped and fell into a canal close to a white garment church.
The prophetess who led the church raised the alarm, alleging that Mama Ojo had been flying in the form of a bird, transformed into a human being, and fallen onto the roof of her church while she was praying.
She reportedly mobilised other members of the church, who concluded that the old woman must be a witch, and began praying against her while trying to force her to confess to being one.
“Woman, if you confess to me, I’m ready to help you. We will bathe you, make you over so that you will not die. I see you shaking your hand; if you look in my face again, fire will burn you,” the woman, later identified as a prophetess, could be heard saying in the viral clip.
As the interrogation continued, Mama Ojo appeared to appeal to the prophetess’s sense of compassion.
“When you spoke earlier, you said that God doesn’t want the death of a sinner but for the sinner to repent,” she pleaded.
The prophetess, however, insisted that the grandmother admit to being a witch.
“Yes, that is why I want you to confess everything to me. The evil covenant you made with the dark world will not make you confess,” she responded.
Visibly exhausted and distressed, the elderly woman maintained her innocence.
“I can’t say anything other than what I’m saying, please,” Mama Ojo said.
Unmoved, the prophetess issued what appeared to be an ultimatum: “You will die there if you don’t confess!”
The rest of the video captured how the old woman was further dehumanised and had “holy ashes” thrown upon her, despite maintaining her innocence, describing where her son lived in the area, and insisting that she had no supernatural powers.
Although the video’s caption, which garnered more than 1,500 likes, read, “Full video of a flying bird that turns to human being in Abeokuta. Watch till the end,” the footage showed no scene in which a flying bird transformed into a woman or vice versa.
In another video of the incident posted by a TikTok user, Hasmart (@hasmart_richie), a young man believed to be the prophetess’s son could be seen flogging the elderly woman.
The prophetess could also be seen placing what looked like a religious sword vertically against Mama Ojo’s neck as the exhausted woman cried out in pain.
“That’s where your power is! I’m asking you to confess. If you confess, I will help you,” the prophetess could be heard saying.
A police source disclosed that Mama Ojo was rescued the next day by the Ogun State Police Command and taken to a hospital.
Sadly, two days after the incident, Mrs Ojo died at the state general hospital, where she was receiving treatment for injuries sustained during the mob attack.
One of the deceased’s children, Kabir Kehinde, explained that his mother had lost her way while visiting his brother, who lived behind the church, on Monday evening and was attacked by the prophetess and her son.
“My mother was not a witch; she was wrongly accused and beaten to death by the prophetess. My mother had gone to visit my brother on Monday evening and lost her way because she had sight problems.
“The prophetess and others beat her from Monday evening till Tuesday morning. They inflicted injuries on her because they were pestering her to confess to witchcraft. Despite her repeated pleas of innocence, they descended on her, beating and accusing her of witchcraft.
“My mother was still bleeding from the injuries even till the day we buried her. We have reported the case to the police and the prophetess has been arrested,” Kabir told Saturday PUNCH.
The grip of superstition
Commenting on the video, the National Director of Advocacy for Alleged Witches, Dr Leo Igwe, pointed out that the footage illustrated the grip of superstition on the minds of Nigerians.
“Modern education has not succeeded in weakening this grip. The misconception that a human being can turn into a bird remains a popular superstition. The notion that a human being could magically transform into a bird or cat is counterintuitive,” he said.
He expressed concern that, like Mrs Ojo, many older people are at risk of being accused, maltreated and murdered based on “flimsy beliefs and misconceptions. This is especially the case with people who have become senile or who suffer from dementia and other debilitating ailments,” Igwe stated.
A report published by the European Union Agency for Asylum stated that in Nigeria, “witches” are regarded as a common cause of misfortune.
“People, and in particular elderly women, children, or those who are somehow ‘different’, feared or disliked, might be accused of being witches. The phenomenon is more widely reported in southern Nigeria, but also exists in the north.
“Persons with visible physical disabilities (such as kyphosis) or severe mental disabilities are also potential targets. Elderly women may also be accused of witchcraft, for example in the case of the death of a child in the local community, the miscarriage of a pregnant woman, ‘eccentric’ behaviour, or outliving a deceased husband.
“Punishment may involve severe beating, burning or stoning, naked parading, being compelled to drink lethal ‘medicines’, or lynching by a mob,” the EUAA said.
Reacting to this, an author and podcaster, Livingstone Usoro, stated that witchcraft survives in Nigeria because many citizens have modernised life without changing how they explain misfortune.
“Witchcraft is essentially getting the cause-and-effect relationship wrong. Something happens- a death, illness, infertility, poverty, conflict or failure- and a visible person is blamed for an invisible force. Witchcraft becomes the primitive explanation, while the accused becomes the scapegoat for something that has never been proven.
“In southern Nigeria, indigenous traditions have explained misfortune through spirits, witchcraft, divination and ritual power. When Christianity arrived, it encountered that spiritual imagination and adapted to it. Fears acquired Christian vocabulary: witches became agents of Satan, curses became spiritual attacks, and protection became deliverance,” he noted.
The history of witch-hunts
Although the English word witchcraft was introduced by British colonialists and missionaries, the underlying concepts, including beliefs in mystical harm, invisible forces and antisocial spiritual powers, already existed in indigenous Nigerian societies under local names.
The belief in witchcraft was most intensely accentuated in European history, particularly between 1560 and 1630, following the publication of Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches) in 1486.
During the peak of the “witch craze,” thousands of people were prosecuted and executed under the belief that witches participated in a diabolical conspiracy and had entered into a pact with the Devil.
According to historians, almost any unexplained misfortune, such as sudden illness, deformity, child mortality, agricultural ruin, or disruptions to daily life like drought or freak storms, was often blamed on witchcraft.
Because people did not yet understand modern science, medicine or meteorology, they viewed these unusual or tragic events as the work of the Devil acting through a local witch.
However, over the ensuing centuries, as scientific knowledge, legal reforms, and cultural and religious evolution took place, institutional witch-hunts vanished from Europe.
Unfortunately, in other parts of the world with weaker legal institutions or limited healthcare access, vulnerable individuals, disproportionately elderly women and children, are still occasionally blamed and targeted for community misfortunes.
In Africa, for example, beliefs in spirits, the existence of a dual reality (the physical and spiritual worlds), and the manipulation of mystical power by day or night remain widespread, reinforcing belief in the activities of witches and wizards.
Commenting on this, a Professor of Sociology of Religion, Religious Ethics and Religious Factors in Security, Peace and Conflict Discourse at the University of Ibadan, Jacob Ayantayo, explained that cultural beliefs about witchcraft, and how suspected witches are treated, differ across parts of the country.
“Religion is basically about our mindset because it is man-made. There were mysterious things that people couldn’t explain, and they established the mysterious nature of these things through stories and folktales. Some of this information is passed, consciously or unconsciously, to the next generation, who cannot defend or substantiate it rationally and logically.
“In African culture, it is believed that women, especially elderly women, can be witches. But the belief that a woman is a witch or a man is a wizard is a mindset. Sadly, some churches are capitalising on this.”
“In any case, in modern times, it’s wrong to engage in extrajudicial activities. The law frowns on it, and the children of whoever is suspected to be a witch can take the matter to court,” Ayantayo told Saturday PUNCH.
Missing woman, another killed
In Akamkpa, a large town in Cross River State, Arit Inyang, a childless widow, allegedly faced months of threats and harassment from her nephew, 40-year-old Anthony Malachy.
Saturday PUNCH learned that on January 23, 2024, Malachy said birds were making noise late at night and accused Mama Inyang of transforming into a bird and engaging in witchcraft.
According to a source in the Isong Inyang community, at 1 am on the fateful day, Malachy went to the 86-year-old woman’s house and started throwing stones at it.
“In response, Mama sneaked out of her house at about 3 am that night. From that day on, Malachy repeatedly accused her of killing his mother through witchcraft and would visit Mama Arit’s home armed with a machete. He openly threatened to kill her if anyone else in the family died.
“Mama said Anthony did all this because she was childless and a widow. Her husband, a retired military officer, had passed away some years ago. She was begging for justice before they killed her,” the source said.
After the case was reported to the police, Malachy was detained and made to sign an undertaking to stop threatening Mama Inyang.
However, the octogenarian has been missing since October last year, raising fears that she may have been abducted or murdered.
In 2023, in the same town, Madam Martina Itagbor became a target of suspicion and harassment in her community before her agonising death on June 18.
The 70-year-old woman’s ordeal began after a fatal car crash claimed the lives of two young men from the area. Rather than attributing the tragedy to an accident, some members of the community accused the elderly woman of causing it through voodoo or witchcraft.
On the fateful day, Madam Itagbor was in the Catholic Church at Old Netim, a village in Akamkpa LGA, where the local chapter of the Catholic Women Organisation was holding a gathering.
It was learnt that a gang of angry youths stormed the church and allegedly dragged the elderly woman out, assaulted her and stripped her naked.
Witnesses reported that those who attempted to intervene were too afraid to confront the youths.
As Madam Itagbor cried for help, the assailants allegedly cut off her thumb with a machete, poured petrol over her and set her ablaze.
The Cross River State Police Command launched a manhunt and arrested multiple suspects linked to the mob killing.
Patriarchy fuelling mob attacks
In an interview with Saturday PUNCH, the Director of AFAW, Dr Igwe, explained that older women are targeted because of patriarchy and male political domination of society.
He noted that women are yet to be seen and treated as equal partners in the African political economy, adding that in religious cosmologies, older men are believed to use their supposed magical powers for good, to protect and defend society, while older women are believed to use theirs for evil, destruction and harm.
“Seen as weaker members, women, especially older women, are those on whom the label of witchcraft can be easily placed. Older women easily serve as scapegoats, expendable and dispensable parts of the community.
“Older women are targeted because there are no social safety nets for the ageing population. Older people do not receive social welfare from the state. They depend on their families, children and relatives for survival. Older women largely constitute a social burden and liability. So, accusations provide a pretext to legitimise their elimination.
“Older women are often accused of witchcraft because the narrative that identifies the witch as female and ageing persists unquestioned and unchallenged in society. African churches and religious enthusiasts promote the narrative as sacred dogma with remarkable force and fierceness. Self-styled demagogues peddle this cultural throwback as a fundamental element of African identity,” Igwe stated.
He pointed out that the targeting of older women has persisted because of impunity, noting that those who accuse and persecute them as witches often escape justice.
“A lot can be done to end this barbarism. First, it is pertinent to promote gender equality and justice in all aspects of society. Women, young and old, should be treated as equal in dignity and rights as men. Older women should receive social benefits and welfare packages from the state. The narrative that identifies elderly women as witches should be critically examined and dispelled.
“Misogynistic narratives should have no place in 21st-century Nigerian and African societies. The superstitious fears, ignorance and injustice that underlie and drive these narratives must be exposed and denounced. Those who peddle the mistaken idea that witches exist, that older women can be witches, including pastors and other religious and cultural custodians, should be held accountable.
“Those who engage in the accusation and persecution of elderly women as witches should be brought to justice and made to pay for their crimes. And lastly, there should be no delay in justice for older women who manage to contact the police or approach the courts to seek redress after being accused or abused,” Igwe added.
‘Witchcraft accusation violates Nigerian law’
Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, an Abuja-based legal practitioner, Babs Akinwumi, stated that the lynching, torture, assault or killing of women on allegations of witchcraft constitutes a serious violation of Nigerian law.
He clarified that an accusation of witchcraft does not confer on any individual, community, traditional institution, religious body or mob the authority to investigate, adjudicate or punish the accused.
“The determination of criminal responsibility is exclusively a matter for the legally constituted criminal justice system. It is instructive to note that proving witchcraft against an individual is a daunting task that is almost impracticable, and the case of Rex v. Agumagu Nwaoke (1939) WACA comes to mind in this regard.
“By the provision of Section 210 of the Criminal Code Act, the mere accusation of anyone of witchcraft is an offence in itself. That section further criminalises the threatening, torture, beating or killing of anyone on the basis of an accusation of witchcraft and prescribes a jail term for such conduct.
“Also, a victim, or the victim’s relatives, where death has occurred—can seek redress under Chapter IV of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), which relates to fundamental human rights, by filing an application for the enforcement of those rights under Sections 33 to 46,” Akinwumi noted.
Citing Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the lawyer said the law guarantees every person the right to life, while Section 34 guarantees the dignity of the human person and prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.
He added that Section 35 further protects the personal liberty of every individual, while Section 36(5) provides that any person accused of a criminal offence is presumed innocent.
“Accordingly, the beating, burning, stabbing, strangulation, torture, unlawful detention or killing of a person on the allegation of witchcraft constitutes a grave infringement of constitutionally protected rights and may simultaneously amount to one or more criminal offences.
“Where the attack results in death, the perpetrators may be liable for murder, manslaughter or other applicable homicide offences. Where the victim survives, the perpetrators may, depending on the facts and the applicable state law, be liable for assault, causing grievous bodily harm, unlawful confinement, attempted murder, conspiracy, incitement, destruction of property and other offences,” Akinwumi explained.
The lawyer stressed that criminal liability should not be confined to the person who physically inflicted the fatal injury but may also extend to those who planned, encouraged, instigated, aided, counselled, procured or otherwise participated in the unlawful attack.
“They may also be investigated and prosecuted where the evidence establishes the requisite criminal responsibility. The appropriate legal response to an allegation of criminal conduct is a report to the police or other competent law enforcement authority, followed by investigation and, where appropriate, prosecution before a competent court.
“No community, mob, religious group or individual has the lawful authority to substitute violence, torture or execution for judicial process,” he said.
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