Muhammad Hassan Patigi: Witchcraft Allegations, ‘Healing’ and Human Degradation in Mokwa, Central Nigeria
The Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AFAW) urges the Inspector General of Police, through the Commissioner of Police (Niger State), the Divisional Police Officer (Mokwa), the Director of State Security Service, the Governor, and Government of Niger state, the Chairman of Mokwa Local Government Area, the Ndalile of Mokwa, the Health Ministry and the COVID19 management committee in Niger state to take immediate measures to stop the planned ‘healing’ and witchcraft exorcism session in Mokwa.
AFAW has reliably gathered that the self-acclaimed healer and witchcraft exorcist, Muhammad Hassan Patigi, who traveled for the Sallah celebrations, is now back in Mokwa town and is planning to commence his ‘healing’ activities. AFAW has also been informed that Hassan Patigi’s planned ‘healing’ session in Lafiagi in Kwara state was canceled after some people protested to the government.
Now back in Mokwa, Mr. Patigi is expected to hold ‘healing’ activity in Mokwa in the coming days. Without the intervention of relevant authorities, this activity will go ahead. Videos of revulsive images and scenes from the previous ‘healing’ and witch exposing activities of Mr. Patigi have been circulating on social media. Some of the videos contain scenes where Hassan Patigi asked alleged witches to go naked, fight and urinate on themselves. Look, this show of shame is an indictment on traditional as well as state authorities and other stakeholders on governance and maintenance of law and order in Mokwa, Niger state. The authorities in Niger state should not allow a repeat of these disgusting scenes in Mokwa. They should not permit a recurrence of this spectacle of national disgrace and embarrassment in Nupeland.
AFAW urges members of the public to call the following numbers and ask these officials to take urgent steps and ensure that the planned ‘healing’ and witchcraft exorcism activities in Mokwa by Hassan Patigi do not hold:
Niger State Commissioner of Police 08066933529 Niger State Police Public Relations Officers 08032233454 Divisional Police Officer Mokwa 08032076047 Director State Security Service 07035065411 Ndalile of Mokwa 08035890274 Director Primary Health Centre Mokwa: 08035911956
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
