Torturing someone because of witchcraft is terrible, WICUDA president, Nforgwei Rogers, shames perpetrators

Torturing villagers for alleged witchcraft practices has gained centre stage in most village Ndu and Nkambe central subdivisions.

The suspects are often subjected to inhumane practices, asked to swear, and then chased from the villages in extreme cases. The ongoing armed conflict between the Cameroon government and non-Anglophone armed groups in the subdivisions has increased such practices with most of the non-state armed actors taking the laws into their hands.

But the worry of the President of Wimbum Cultural and Development Association, WICUDA, Nforgwei Rogers, is not limited to the present dispensation. He is worried about the fate of these suspects who in the majority are women.

Does witchcraft exist? The WICUDA President says in some of these cases, the people “may be truly possessed and under the influence of the forces of darkness” but that does not give anyone the right to torture the suspects.

“We need to be aware that public beating and molestation may lead to physical injury and or death of the accused. In cases any of these happens, it will be treated by law as murder, and the culprits will be charged as such” he warned in a letter sent to all Wimbum cultural groups nationwide.

The WICUDA president has urged traditional rulers to work closely with elders and village associations to solve such matters, except otherwise, they can be sent to government offices, if it is unsolvable.