The hapless Cross River widows

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THE propensity of some unscrupulous and misguided Nigerians for violence and the waning respect for the sanctity of human life in the country are really disturbing. Over the flimsiest of excuses, it is common to see or hear of hapless citizens being tortured, maimed and/or killed extra-judicially. If it is not over differences in religious beliefs, ethnic and economic issues or varying political persuasions, it could be because of mere superstition like the instant case of torturing and killing of two old widows over allegations of witchcraft in Ebbaken community in Boje, Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State. The two aged widows, Mrs Martina Osom and Mrs Rose Akom, were accused of initiating a member of the community into witchcraft. And for this unestablished allegation, they were tied up in the rain and beaten for a whole day.

Allegations of witchcraft and unlawful/bizarre punishment of the accused are not alien to Cross River State and its neighbour, Akwa Ibom State. Indeed, this variant of allegation that largely borders on superstition has ruled and ruined Cross River for ages. Many Nigerians cannot forget in a hurry the gory picture of a young malnourished child rescued by a white woman in the state years ago. The child had been accused of witchcraft and left to die of starvation. Is Cross River an ungoverned space? Are there no security agencies in the state? How did the perpetrators of this ugly incident have a field day without state intervention? How and why should non-state actors be allowed to impose their own version of justice that culminated in capital punishment for the two aged widows over allegations of witchcraft that carries a sentence of two years’ jail term under the extant laws? Is it not evident that a regime of impunity has provided an incentive for the perpetrators to continue to indulge in this dastardly act?

And more significantly, the fact that the accusers of the hapless widows also doubled as the jury that pronounced and administered the uncivilised punishment that led to the unlawful killing of the women after a whole day’s torture in the rains should be a cause for concern for the government and all Nigerians regarding the dangerous proclivity for some people to take the law into their own hands. The persistence of mob and irrational justice in the land in spite of the assumed presence of government is really frightening.

It bears stressing that it is one of the cardinal duties of the government to assure and guarantee ordered human existence and living on the basis of due processes of regulations and laws and devoid of arbitrary usurpation of power by any segment of the society. However, the treatment meted out to the two widows is a testament to the literal victory of the rule of the mob over the rule of law. When people continue to act outside of accepted rules and norms with impunity, it can only mean that there is a breakdown of law and order, and that is the most crucial condition for a slide into anarchy. Unfortunately, this is apparently the setting in Cross River State where there has been a persistence of barbaric actions against those tagged as witches and wizards. Sadly, there are many recorded instances of such specious allegations of witchcraft which in any modern society is seen as a contraption in the minds of some people because it is never something that can be easily proved or demonstrated logically for others.

Without doubt, there is a custom and cultural background to this recurring savagery against people accused of witchcraft in many communities in Cross River State. And it is time such culture and belief system yielded ground to modernity and the rule of law. No decent society permits a descent into a mindless orgy of mob action on the basis of such unprovable allegations without the government standing up in a strong manner to decisively punish the deviation. The state must strongly discourage the proclivity for self-help by ensuring that breaches of the laws and citizens’ rights are curtailed and the offenders punished according to the law.

To be sure, the law is capable of redressing the offence of witchcraft as provided for in sections 216 and 210 of the criminal and penal codes respectively. However, individuals are not guilty based on mere accusation of being witches as it is commonplace in Cross River State in particular, and Nigeria in general. They must by their statements or actions admit to having powers of witchcraft. In other words, self-confession is crucial to establishing an accusation of witchcraft under the extant laws, and it is the law and not the mob that punishes offenders. The government is, therefore, enjoined to sit up and apprehend this descent into anarchy in Cross River State and use the current episode to put a firm stop to the slide. Specifically, those responsible for the death of the two aged widows should be fished out and adequately punished, with the punishment receiving adequate publicity, so that all would learn not to continue to indulge in or allow the perpetration of mob punishment and justice in any part of Nigeria again.

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