Dr. Leo Igwe on Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW)
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/08/27
Dr. Leo Igwe holds a B.Phil and an M.A in philosophy from Seat of Wisdom Seminary Owerri and University of Calabar in Nigeria and a doctoral degree in religious studies from the University of Bayreuth in Germany. Igwe founded the Nigerian Humanist Movement (now the Humanist Association of Nigeria) and worked for some years for the International Humanist and Ethical Union (now Humanists International) in the UK and the Center for Inquiry in the US. He has research interest in atheism, religion, and witchcraft, in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Zambia. At the moment, Igwe devotes his time to campaigning for the release of the detained Nigerian Humanist, Mubarak Bala, working to eradicate witch persecution and fostering critical thinking in schools.
Here we talk about Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW).
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: It was great to run into each other in Copenhagen at the World Congress. We’ve been working together through Advocacy for Alleged Witches for years. You’ve done the bulk of the field, in fact all. So, full credit to that, your continual work on the ground shows a commitment to practical ethics of Secular Humanism in an African context. What was your central reason for choosing witchcraft allegations as the focus of activism in Africa?
Dr. Leo Igwe: I chose to focus on witchcraft allegations because accusations of witchcraft negate the basic principles of humanism. These accusations signify an eclipse of reason, they illustrate the vicious impact of religious extremism and superstition. These allegations provide best opportunities to deploy mechanisms of humanist ethics. More importantly, Africa is still among the few places in the world where alleged witches are mistreated, persecuted and killed as in early modern Europe. I am rallying against witch hunts in Africa so that the continent could join the rest of the world in consigning this dark and destructive phenomenon to the dustbin of history.
Jacobsen: How is progress toward the goal or reducing and eliminating this threat to human wellbeing?
Igwe: The progress has been slow and steady, and we hope to continue on that path. The Advocacy for Alleged Witches has become a key player in national, regional and international efforts to combat witch persecutions. This year we marked the World Day against witch hunts We focused on the theme Dementia and Witch Persecutions. AfAW has intervened in a number cases in Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi, Kenya etc. Due to limited funds, most of the interventions have been in Nigeria. We intervene by helping victims relocate, get some medical treatment, report to the police, or prosecute witch hunters. Our interventions have been most effective where victims survived and consent to being assisted. In some cases, the police and courts have not been cooperative. State institutions have been tardy in handling cases. Many officers demand bribes before they could intervene. The global response has been lukewarm. The world has little or the no interest in the issue. The misconception that witch persecution is cultural and isn’t going away, persists. AfAW declares that witch persecution is a harmful practice that must be routed out. At both local and global levels, we are making progress and this progress will continue.
Jacobsen: How does Secular Humanism play a key role in the work against witchcraft allegations and the negative social actions that happen as a result of it?
Igwe: The negative social consequences of witchcraft allegations are motivated by beliefs that transcend this world and humanity. Hence secular humanism is valuable and resourceful in correcting the wrong of witchcraft allegation. Secular humanism highlights the injustices which get eclipsed, the humanity which get violated based otherworldly imaginaries and canons of transgression
Jacobsen: Were there any precursors to your work against witchcraft allegations?
Igwe: Even before reading about the European witch hunts, my gut feeling, growing up, was that witch hunting was out of step with humanity and reason. Reading about European witch hunts emboldened me to act and rally against this dreadful phenomenon.
Jacobsen: Is witchcraft allegation more a post-colonial religious hangover from European and Arab colonialism or more from traditional roots pre-colonial contact?
Igwe: Witch hunting is a traditional and precolonial African phenomenon. But contemporary cases, the post colonial expressions have layers of European and Arab influences They are a mix of Christian and Islamic currents.
Jacobsen: What nation-state in Africa is the worst for witchcraft allegations?
Igwe: It is really difficult to say. But from our records Nigeria and Malawi are the most notorious…These are countries of concern.
Jacobsen: Who have been key partners and workers in this work?
Igwe: Many have been key partners in this work. They include Safe Child Africa, Witches of Scotland, Basic Rights Counsel Initiative, End Witchhunts, Humanists International, Center for Inquiry, Office of the UN Special Rapporteur on People Living with Albinism, Association of Black Humanists, National Human Rights Commission, Nigeria, Squaring the Strange.
Jacobsen: What are the major targets in 2023/2024 for your work?
Igwe: Our targets include getting AfAW mainstreamed as the first port of call for victims of witch persecution and their relatives. Taking over the narrative of witchcraft from witch hunters and witchcraft exorcists. Rallying more state and non state actors against witch persecution.
Conducting more community outreaches and town hall meetings….
Debate and dialogue with more witch believers.
More TV and radio programs on witchcraft accusations.
Jacobsen: How can people get involved and the support the work of AfAW?
Igwe: People can get involved in various ways. First, by drawing attention to cases of witch persecution in Africa with the aim to tackle and eradicate the phenomenon. Mainstreaming witchcraft allegations when issues about women, children, the aged, people with disabilities are discussed.
Bring their professional knowledge and experience to bear on the topic.
Fund raise to help AfAW effectively intervene and sustain its programs.
Jacobsen: What have been some of the more gruesome cases of witchcraft allegations and the impacts of innocent people — because witchcraft in a supernatural sense doesn’t exist and doesn’t work? It’s simply people stigmatizing and harming others based on this superstition.
Igwe: Some of the gruesome cases include the recent burning of Mrs. Itagbor in Cross River state in Southern Nigeria. There have been other horrific cases of witch burning in Ghana, and Kenya. In Zimbabwe, two siblings murdered their father and in Zambia and Nigeria, alleged witches were buried alive….
Jacobsen: Is this whole phenomenon of “stealing my destiny” something found at all?
Igwe: The phenomenon of stealing one’s destinies constitutes an expression of witchcraft anxiety. It is another manifestation rooted in occult and supernatural fears. Endemic poverty, unemployment and economic downturn have created existential uncertainties…and caused some people to believe that neighbors or relatives had stolen or tied up their destinies. Those so suspected are subjected to horrific abuses. The narrative of stealing people’s destinies is common among witch believing societies.
Jacobsen: What are the real root causes of this, when you untangle it — case-by-case?
Igwe: The root causes are legion. Poverty, especially persistent state of penury and despair, poor health infrastructure, lack of social security, blurred lines between faith and science, medicine and religion, the work of doctors and priests, limited state presence in the communities, lack of rule of law, poor policing, scientific illiteracy and lack of emphasis on critical thinking based education.
Jacobsen: What are the general principles of helping these communities heal, families heal, and reunite loved ones?
Igwe: Solidarity, love and justice for the accused. Education and enlightenment for the accusers…
Jacobsen: What role can local secular or humanist schools, if they exist, do if this is part of the local culture — to combat and eliminate it?
Igwe: Local humanist schools are imperative to combating witchcraft accusations and witch persecutions because these schools emphasize and foster science, reason, critical thinking, rational compassion and other values that could help weaken the grip of witch beliefs and fears on the minds and conscience of the people.
Jacobsen: Any final thoughts?
Leo: If the covid-19 pandemic didn’t teach us anything it was that the world could rally against any threat to humanity anywhere. That human beings can overcome and overwhelm any dark and destructive phenomenon. Incidentally this has not been the case with witch hunts in Africa because those affected are Africans not Europeans or Americans. Again Africans who are mainly impacted have refused to muster the political will to confront the problem head on. Until this attitude toward witch hunts in Africa changes, the phenomenon will continue to ravage African societies.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Dr. Igwe.
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