FIDA Seeks Rights Protection against Witchcraft Allegations

Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) has charged assemblage leaders to support the rights of persons progressive successful alleged witchcraft accusations successful Bauchi communities to avert the prevalence of jungle justness and sphere household ties.

The chairperson of FIDA Bauchi, Barr. Hauwa Abubakar, said this astatine an engagement organised successful collaboration with the Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AFAW), with councillors and accepted rulers successful Tafawa Balewa section government.

She said the signifier continues to endanger the lives of guiltless people.

“Today’s engagement focuses connected enlightening assemblage members astir the dangers of stigmatisation and harmful accepted beliefs.

“We brought unneurotic accepted leaders, women, youth, and different stakeholders to sermon however to extremity these practices and beforehand bid and communal respect,” she said.

Abubakar explained that the run seeks to support susceptible individuals, particularly women, and forestall abuses linked to witchcraft accusations crossed communities successful Bauchi State.
“There is thing similar witchcraft successful our laws, neither successful the constitution nor successful the state’s statutes.

“But due to the fact that radical are unaware of their rights, they edifice to jungle justice. Ignorance of the instrumentality is not an excuse; anyone who harms oregon kills different idiosyncratic implicit witchcraft claims volition beryllium prosecuted,” she explained.

The programme manager of AFAW, Mr. Dooyum Ingye, condemned the persistent persecution of women and children implicit witchcraft allegations, describing it arsenic a “deep-rooted quality rights violation” successful Nigeria.

He said the sensitisation run was organised to rise consciousness astir the dangers of witchcraft-related stigma and to beforehand respect for quality rights wrong communities.

One of the victims, Mrs Hannatu Yakubu, shared her achy experience, recalling however her parent was taken distant by immoderate youths successful 2020 aft being accused of witchcraft.

“In 2020, we heard a large sound successful our area, and immoderate youths took my parent away. Since then, beingness has not been the same, but I americium grateful that assistance yet came,” she said.

Another assemblage member, Mr Haruna Musa Gital, a assemblage leader, narrated however a young antheral suffered affectional distress aft his woman was falsely accused of witchcraft by his ain brother.