People with dementia are not witches – Group

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An advocacy group, Advocacy for Alleged Witches, has exposed the mistreatment of people with mental health issues.

The group called on Nigerians to stop stigmatizing people with dementia as witches, adding that the mental health problem has nothing to do with superstitious belief in witchcraft and magic.

The group, in a statement released Monday by its director, Leo Igwe, said the call became imperative following a visit to a family of Ann Soberekon in Port Harcourt Rivers State.

According to the group, Ann Soberekon, a grandmother and retired lab scientist, was nearly lynched by a mob in Port Harcourt following an accusation of witchcraft in December last year.

"According to family sources, Ms. Soberekon has dementia and is receiving treatment at a local hospital.

“In December, she went to visit a relative but forgot to return home. For two days she disappeared. The family members did not know if she was alive or dead. relatives to find out where she was when a family member received a call that a mob was about to lynch her in an area of ​​Port Harcourt; they suspected she was a witch.

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"The family quickly sent someone to rescue her and bring her home. Mrs. Soberekon was lucky. She survived. Many people with mental health issues and accused of witchcraft rarely survive. They are usually beaten to death or lynched."

He added: "Family members said Mrs. Soberekon had bruises all over her body. When Ann was unable to find her way home, she began to roam the streets. Some young approached her, stripped her and started beating her with sticks, banana leaves and stalks and pelted her with rocks. According to Ann, a pastor Jeremiah asked for salt. The pastor claimed that if he administered the salt to Ann, she would die immediately. The salt was not administered. But a family member claimed that they gave her a concoction.

"In a video that went viral on social media, Ann Soberekon could be seen lying naked on the ground and answering questions from the crowd. Someone described her as 'a strong witch'; they asked her to provide a list of her fellow witches. They claimed she was returning from a meeting of witches when she crashed while flying over a power pole.

"Ann mentioned Professor Konya as one of her colleagues, but this mob considered the names she mentioned to be some of her clan of witches. The mob misinterpreted Ann's answers and treated her statements as confessions of witches, not statements of a mentally unstable person. What a shame!

"After her rescue and return, the Konya family asked Ann Soberekon's family to apologize for mentioning her name. When Mrs. Soberekon's family did not apologize, the family Konya used police to arrest a relative of Ann Soberekon and detained her at Port Harcourt Central Police Station Police released her after a day Ann Soberekon's family later issued a public apology to the Konyas. The apology was published in a local newspaper."

"AfAW condemns the mistreatment and persecution of Ann Soberekon and other mentally ill people in the country. There is no link between dementia and witchcraft-related fears and anxieties. Mental health issues have no connection to occult forces or demonic possession as is commonly believed.

"The attribution of insanity to witchcraft is rooted in irrational fear, misinterpretation, and ignorance of the cause of the disease. People who suffer from mental health problems are not witches or witches and should not be attacked or killed. People with dementia and other mental health conditions are patients with health conditions. They should be treated with love, care and respect."