DEMENTIA AND WITCHCRAFT ACCUSATIONS IN IMO STATE

The Advocacy for Alleged Witches urges Nigerians to realize that dementia is a real disease and that those with this health condition are not witches. The call has become necessary following the case of Janet Nwobi from Imo State in southern Nigeria. An advocate drew the attention of AfAW to a Facebook video where Ms. Nwobi was found naked on the streets. Some youths were questioning her; they suspected her of witchcraft. AfAW sent one of the advocates in Imo State to confirm the story and the fate of Ms. Nwobi. According to this advocate, “I called a former colleague of mine who was now working in Oguta. Mrs Nnoromele sent her the video. She confirmed that going by the Igbo dialect, it was Oguta Eshimeshi. I pleaded with her to help talk to a few people to locate the whereabouts of the woman hoping she had not been harmed.”

Fortunately, some days later the person called back, “She said a colleague in her school on Mrs Iwuorisha said she knew the woman in question who was being accused of being a witch. She said that they were married into the same community of Umuenu Oguta, that she was not a witch but was just suffering from dementia”. 

As this AfAW contact person noted, Mrs. Iwuorisha was helpful. “She promised to get to the house of the woman accused of witchcraft by the next day and get back to me. The next day when I called, Mrs Iwuorisha told me that she was talking to her in-laws to get a few more information. When I spoke to her the following day she was confident and informed me that the woman wasn’t harmed, she was rescued by a relative of hers and that it was a case of dementia that made her leave her home at night or any time that her care givers were not around. Mr. Iwuorisha promised to get to her the next day. The following day, I was able to speak to Mrs. Janet Nwobi and her two daughters-in-law on WhatsApp using Mrs. Iwuorisha. They were very grateful. Mr. Iwuorisha sent me the phone number of one of her daughters-in-law.

With the support of AfAW, our advocate traveled to meet her. According to him, “On 29th July 2023 morning, there was a statewide clean up and sanitation exercise and this delayed my moving early. I had to wait until the clean-up exercise was over before I could move. I walked from my house to Weathral Road by Fire Service from where I entered a bus that took me to Control. From Control, I joined another bus that was going towards Mgbidi which is a town on the Onitsha Owerri Road axis. The journey should not have lasted more than 45 minutes but because of the over 13 checkpoints on the road, it took us about one and half hours”. 

He further explained: “I got to Oguta junction from where I took a bike to Umuenu. I called Mrs. Chidinma Nwobi. daughter-in-law to Mrs Janet Nwobi and she told me where to stop, She came out and took me to their house. We met her, Mrs. Janet Nwobi. She was lying on the floor but could speak although incoherently. She was happy at the visit. While speaking to Chidinma and Obiageli, I was able to gather that Mrs. Janet Nwobi had two sons. Both of them were married and had six children. The incident we saw on Facebook was just one of many of such episodes. The painful thing that happened to her on that day was that someone stripped her naked. But I was told that the person had apologized. I spent about an hour and a half with them and tried to see the oldest man in Oguta whom they said was handling the case but the rain barred me”. 

AfAW is exploring ways to support Ms. Nwobi and improve the care that she receives. But for the support to be effective, Nigerians must realize that dementia is a disease like other diseases. And those who suffer from dementia need care and love from society. They should not be abused, beaten, stripped naked, or disgraced in public. Those who suffer from dementia are not witches and should not be accused of witchcraft. People should not mistake incoherent talks and utterances of persons with dementia to witch confessions. Nigerians should abandon superstitious and occult interpretation of ailments, and embrace scientific outlook and critical thinking.

Leo Igwe directs the Advocacy for Alleged Witches