The Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW) commends the government of Cross River State for sacking a notorious witch hunter and bloodletter, Mr. Thomas Obi Tawo aka General Iron. In a press statement signed by the special adviser to the governor on media and publicity, Christian Ita, the dismissal of Mr. Obi Tawo, who is the special adviser to the governor on forest security is with immediate effect. General Iron has been asked to hand over every government property in his care to the office of the chief of staff to the governor. General Iron has been linked to many cases of violent attacks, murder, abduction and disappearance of innocent citizens in the state.
Last year he led some witch hunters to abduct, torture, and lynch about 15 persons in Boki in central Cross River. The victims, which included his mother and other relatives, sustained serious injuries. At least two of the victims have died. Unfortunately, Mr. Obi Tawo or any of those implicated in this atrocious incident has yet to be arrested or prosecuted. Recently General Iron reportedly led some thugs to beat up an ex-lawmaker, Mark Obi. Mark Obi is currently under intensive care at a local hospital.
The sacking of this criminally minded individual is long overdue. The dismissal should mark the beginning of the end of the nightmare that this despicable individual has masterminded over the years. Mr Thomas Obi Tawo is evil. General Iron is a monstrous individual who should be languishing in jail. It is hoped that his dismissal by the government of Cross River State would, at last, pave the way for justice for victims of Boki witch hunts. Mr. Obi Tawo has used his position as a government official to act above the law and shield himself from prosecution and accountability. Now he has been relieved of the position, the police and the government of Cross River should ensure that Mr. Thomas Obi Tawo is arrested and prosecuted without delay
Leo Igwe (born July 26, 1970) is a Nigerian human rights advocate and humanist. Igwe is a former Western and Southern African representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, and has specialized in campaigning against and documenting the impacts of child witchcraft accusations. He holds a Ph.D from the Bayreuth International School of African Studies at the University of Bayreuth in Germany, having earned a graduate degree in Philosophy from the University of Calabar in Nigeria. Igwe’s human rights advocacy has brought him into conflict with high-profile witchcraft believers, such as Liberty Foundation Gospel Ministries, because of his criticism of what he describes as their role in the violence and child abandonment that sometimes result from accusations of witchcraft. His human rights fieldwork has led to his arrest on several occasions in Nigeria. Igwe has held leadership roles in the Nigerian Humanist Movement, Atheist Alliance International, and the Center For Inquiry—Nigeria. In 2012, Igwe was appointed as a Research Fellow of the James Randi Educational Foundation, where he continues working toward the goal of responding to what he sees as the deleterious effects of superstition, advancing skepticism throughout Africa and around the world. In 2014, Igwe was chosen as a laureate of the International Academy of Humanism and in 2017 received the Distinguished Services to Humanism Award from the International Humanist and Ethical Union.
Igwe was raised in southeastern Nigeria, and describes his household as being strictly Catholic in the midst of a “highly superstitious community,” according to an interview in the Gold Coast Bulletin.[1] At age twelve, Igwe entered the seminary, beginning to study for the Catholic priesthood, but later was confused by conflicting beliefs between Christian theology and the beliefs in witches and wizards that are “entrenched in Nigerian society.”[1] After a period of research and internal conflict due to doubts about the “odd blend of tribalism and fundamentalist Christianity he believes is stunting African development,” a 24-year-old Igwe resigned from the seminary and relocated to Ibadan, Nigeria
