From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Days after a viral video showed an elderly woman being paraded with palm fronds tied around her head, her face smeared with faeces and forced to eat same by a mob over witchcraft allegations, the Enugu State Police Command has arrested four out of the 12 suspects involved in the inhuman treatment.
The victim has been identified as Mrs Chinyere Okonkwo of Amanfu, Ugbawka, in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State.
The son of the woman confirmed the arrest in a voice note, ending days of anxiety and advocacy by human rights groups.
According to facts established by the Advocacy for Alleged Witches, (AfAW), the incident occurred in Amanfu, Ugbawka.
AfAW, in a statement by its Director, Dr. Leo Igwe, said it received the disturbing video on Wednesday, October 7, 2026. Immediately, it alerted the police, the Enugu State chapters of the National Human Rights Commission, the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), journalists, and civil society groups, and deployed a regional advocate to verify the incident.
The advocate, who visited the community on Thursday, October 8, 2026, established that the woman was accused of pouring faeces on the grave of her stepson’s late wife.
Confronted by villagers, Mrs Okonkwo reportedly admitted to pouring faeces on the grave. Her reason: the deceased had been appearing to her in her dreams to torment her, and pouring faeces on the grave was an attempt to stop the torment. She, however, vehemently denied killing the deceased or being a witch. That confession could not save her as she was apprehended, flogged, paraded, and subjected to inhuman and degrading treatments -forced to eat faeces with same smeared on her face. Injured and terrified, she ran to the Emmanuel Anglican Church, Amanfu, for safety, but that was short-lived.
The parish priest, Pastor Michael Chukwunonso Ezeude, confirmed to AfAW that about 30 women from the community stormed the church and demanded her release to face “the laws of the community.” All his pleas for intervention were resisted.
The elderly woman later showed the AfAW advocate injuries she sustained from flogging and appealed for justice.
Following the public outrage and the intervention by AfAW, the Ministry of Gender, and human rights groups, Mrs Okonkwo was rescued from her abusers and taken to the hospital for medical treatment.
She was examined for injuries sustained from flogging, exposure to faecal matter, and the severe trauma of public humiliation. Doctors treated her wounds, carried out infection screening, and placed her under medical observation, while arrangements were made for psychosocial counselling and rehabilitation to help her recover from the degrading experience.
Her hospitalisation, advocates said, underscores the physical and psychological toll of witchcraft accusations -a toll that goes far beyond the viral video.
Condemning the act, Dr. Igwe described the treatment of Mrs Okonkwo as barbaric, criminal, and a clear case of gender-based violence rooted in superstition.
“The Advocacy for Alleged Witches condemns the abuse and maltreatment of this woman. Enugu State authorities should take custody of this woman, take her to a hospital for medical examination, and provide her counseling and rehabilitation. The authorities should arrest and prosecute those who mobbed and dehumanised her,” Igwe said.
He added that dream experiences are not real, prophetic or evidence of witchcraft, but products of the subconscious during sleep, urging Nigerians to abandon superstition-based abuses and embrace science, reason, and critical thinking.
“Since last week, AfAW has been working with the police and Ministry of Gender to effect this arrest and bring the perpetrators to justice. The son of the woman has confirmed in this voice note to me. Well done to the Enugu Police. Let’s work to end witch persecution of women. Let’s work to end witch hunts in Nigeria and beyond.”
For AfAW, the Enugu arrest is not an end, but a milestone in a larger battle that spans Nigeria and Africa.
From Cross River to Akwa Ibom, from Northern Ghana to Kenya and Tanzania, thousands of women, mostly elderly widows, continue to be branded witches, banished, beaten or killed over superstition.
Dr. Igwe and his team said their determination remains unshaken: to track every case, to deploy advocates to remote communities, to work with the police, the National Human Rights Commission, FIDA, and Ministries of Gender, and to ensure that every Mrs Okonkwo gets justice, medical care, and rehabilitation.
The organisation insists it will not relent until witch-hunting is recognised for what it truly is -not culture, not religion, but gender-based violence, torture, and criminal assault -and eliminated across Nigeria and the continent. AFAW urged the police to ensure that the remaining eight suspects involved in the inhuman treatment to Mrs Okonkwo are arrested and brought to justice.
For Mrs Chinyere Okonkwo, a widow accused over a dream, the palm fronds may have been removed and medical care provided, but the scars remain. And the message from Ugbawka is clear: branding a woman a witch and feeding her faeces is not tradition. It is a punishable crime.
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