‘What Nigerian military, politics can gain from witchcraft conference in Nigeria’

The organisers of the controversial conference on witchcraft said on Tuesday, that the workshop would help to investigate and “critically evaluate” the belief in witchcraft to find out what impact it has on the Nigerian society.

The two-day workshop is organized by B.I.C Ijomah Centre for Policy Studies and Research, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

The Head of the Centre, Prof. Egodi Uchendu, in her opening address at the forum, said it is important that the conference goes ahead despite the initial protests and threats from Christian communities within and outside the institution.

Prof. Uchendu urged the university system to help in “setting up the ideological imprint” of the people.

She said: “Apart from rumours about witchcraft, can we intelligently discuss the phenomenon of witchcraft? Can we delineate its evolving dynamics, especially in regard to human and societal development? What does belief in witchcraft symbolize for civilians, the military, politicians, scholars and others?

“This conference, therefore, seeks to ‘determine amongst other things the intelligibility of witchcraft’, the principles that underpin it and the impact it has on human life, society and progress,” she said.

“Many men and women in different parts of Nigeria have been treated badly in 21st Century Nigeria because of witchcraft-related accusations.

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“Last week, a priest of the Catholic Church recounted that one of his step-mothers was burnt alive on account of witchcraft accusation. A young woman, seeking for a casual job, in an office in the University of Nigeria, had her case thrown out because she had shared that she was accused of being a witch by a family member; the then Head of Department would not consider her plea for the job on hearing of this accusation.

“Similar examples of this abound all around us. Not to mention the fact that charms and charmers have been included in both the arsenal and the medium for publicly contending with banditry in a state like Zamfara and Boko Haram under the guise of the Joint Task Force. This, perhaps, may be anchored on the thesis by the Chief of Army Staff that, I quote “Boko Haram and the likes cannot be defeated by kinetic military warfare alone.”

According to the varsity don, Nigerians have for too long glossed over witchcraft as an issue, and yet it has persisted, “despite people praying against witches and wizards.”

“The fact that this matter has persisted in our society up to the present day is evidence that the strategy of prayer, alone, is not enough to combat the challenges of belief in witchcraft,” she concluded.

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