Native doctors protest alleged extortion, harassment in Anambra

Male and female native doctors, under the aegis of the Association of Herbal Medicine Practitioners of Anambra State, have barricaded part of the Anambra State Government House, Agu-Awka, to protest alleged extortion by members of the Anambra State Homeland Security Squad, also known as Agunaechemba.

Addressing representatives of Governor Chukwuma Soludo, the leader of the association, Dr Zulike Chinwuba, emphasised that native medicine practice is not a secretive endeavour. He stated that the protesters are genuine practitioners and not ritualists.

Condemning ritual practices by unscrupulous individuals, he stressed the need to distinguish between authentic practitioners and fraudsters. Chinwuba criticised certain practices by native doctors, such as performing sacrifices on roads and water bodies, which he described as offensive and polluting. He disclosed that a task force had been set up to monitor and prosecute those engaging in such acts.

Chinwuba also accused some presidents-general of town unions and local councils of using force and harassment to collect sums ranging from N30,000 to N300,000.

Another stakeholder, Innocent Okwundu, also known as Igwe Njima of Mbaukwu, lamented that some town union leaders have directed that native doctors must register with the presidents-general before practising.

He revealed that an agreement has been reached with the government to form a task force comprising male and female native doctors. The task force is expected to inspect shrines and verify the activities of their keepers.

Okwundu added that any shrine found engaging in rituals such as Awele, Ibobo, Uduakomili, or Okeite (money rituals) would face closure, with perpetrators being prosecuted. He condemned the harassment and false accusations against Dr Abel Chijioke Okpalaobi, the Nkwo Akpo shrine keeper, who was accused of being a ritualist.

Okwundu asserted the constitutional right of native medicine practitioners to freedom of worship and criticised the harassment they face from government agents, contrasting it with the treatment of Christian clergy.

He accused some presidents-general of orchestrating plots to seize shrine lands, which Okpalaobi resisted, leading to alleged blackmail. Okpalaobi decried the demolition of the Nkwo Akpo shrine, which he claimed cost N4.6 million. He denied allegations of appropriating communal land and maintained that the shrine, located near the market, has existed for generations as the abode of the community’s goddess and other deities.

In response to the protest, Governor Soludo, through his Chief of Staff, Ernest Ezeajughi, and the Commissioner for Culture, Entertainment, and Tourism, Don Onyenji, assured the protesters that the ongoing profiling of native medicine practitioners aims to identify and eliminate bad actors.

Ezeajughi noted that the activities of Agunaechemba are backed by state legislation, which targets native doctors who prepare charms used for criminal activities such as kidnapping and armed robbery.