Lecturer, Pastors remanded for accusing woman of witchcraft in Upper East Region

The Bongo District Court in the Upper East Region has remanded nine persons including pastors aged between 19 to 25.

According to reports, the nine individuals were arrested by the police for allegedly accusing a 61-year-old woman of witchcraft and subsequently maltreating her in the community.

They are expected to reappear in court on August 15.

The victim, Ayidaana Abotisei, was taken to Burkina Faso and forced to confess to being a witch, asaaseradio.com reported.

Ayidaana’s son, Joseph Aduko, who reported the incident to the police, stated that a lecturer from the Gbewa College of Education as well as community members are among the individuals remanded by court.

In an interview with Asaase News, Joseph Aduko disclosed that the pastors arrived in the community upon invitation by a junior relative who is a lecturer at Biwa Training College to offer prayers.

Additionally, some young girls who confessed to being witches to the pastors mentioned Ayidaana as the one responsible for their witchcraft.

“Some young pastors, ranging in age from 19 to 25, arrived in our community and were received by the chief. They chose a primary school as their location for prayers. I first heard about the issue on 25 July. I called a junior relative who is a lecturer at Biwa Training College and informed him of the situation. I told him that I was hearing reports that some pastors were accusing my mother of being a witch.”

“It was the junior relative, known as Assah or Pastor Assah, who had arranged for these pastors. They are staying at our house and performing various activities.”

“According to them, they have been praying with several young girls who are allegedly manifesting as witches. The girls claim that my mother is responsible for their supposed witchcraft,” he added.

Aduko further stated that his mother was locked up in a room at the Adaboya chief’s palace upon return from Burkina Faso.

“The following day, I quickly went to the police station and reported the case. The police were making arrangements, but unbeknownst to them, the chief had already summoned my mother to the palace. She was kept in a room with no windows and locked inside.”

“I was informed that there were even pronouncements that she should be killed that night. When I heard this, I immediately mobilised the police, and we proceeded to Adaboya.”

“Upon arriving at Adaboya, we went to the Chief House, where we found thousands of people gathered. It took about 15 police officers and more than an hour to rescue my mother. The chief and his people insisted they would never release her.”

“The police informed them that they were there solely to rescue the woman. The chief questioned whether the police had informed Bongo Naba before coming. The police responded that they were not working with Bongo Naba but were acting on orders from their commander to rescue the woman.”

“After we successfully rescued my mother, as I was holding her, the crowd started chanting insults. They poured water on us, threw stones, and sang derogatory songs, all in the presence of the police. The police can attest to this.”

MAG