Witchcraft: Court Sentences Man To Death By Hanging For Killing Daughters

A High Court sitting in Akamkpa, Cross River has sentenced Ayanime Udo to death by hanging for killing his twin daughters on allegation of being witches.

Delivering judgment on the case with suit number HK/6C/2018, Justice Agnes Onyebueke said; “Udo’s act is satanic, demonic, and beyond human comprehension.’’

She held that the defendant had willfully and gruesomely murdered his 11-year-old twin, Mfoniso Anyanime and Emediong Anyanime in 2017 after dubbing them, witches.

The defendant, who is in his 50s, could not defend his allegation of witchcraft against the female children when cross-examined and had given his 11-year-old girls a malt drink mixed with acid from his motorcycle.

One died at the spot on Jan. 10, 2017, while the second crawled to the road where a Good Samaritan picked and took her to the hospital but she died the next day.

According to a Child Rights Activist, Mr James Ibor, whose Basic Rights Counsel Initiative (BCRI) facilitated the prosecution of the accused, the case was first reported in February 2017.

Ibor said after it was reported, the convict was arrested by the police after a due investigation was carried out.

“The Police ensured that necessary medical examinations and autopsy were done on the deceased children, which aided the judgment.

“This judgment is a great victory to the victims, Mfoniso Anyanime, Emediong Anyanime in particular, and the Government of Cross River,’’ he said.

It would be recalled that the killing of twins was predominant in the Southern part of the Cross River which includes Akamkpa before the intervention of the Scottish Missionary, Mary Slessor.