March 6, 2025, Nigeria: roundtable discussion on ‘Witch hunts and human rights violations in Ondo’
by Dr. Piyush Mathur
On March 6, 2025, Dr. Leo Igwe’s organisation Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW) will hold a roundtable discussion titled ‘Witch hunts and human rights violations in Ondo’. In this undertaking, AfAW has the support of the Akure office of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which will participate in the discussion.
The discussion will start at 12 noon (Nigeria time)—again, on March 6, 2025 (which is a Thursday).
The event’s venue will be Alagbaka, opposite Waste Management Board office, near CBN, Akure, Ondo State.
Any queries about the event can be made on the following phone numbers: +234-8036-30-78-49 & +234-8130-593-605
Readers can check out the event’s digital poster below, circulated on the Internet by Dr. Igwe:
This is a screenshot of a digital poster announcing the event; prepared by AfAW poster has been circulated on the Internet by AfAW’s Founder & CEO, Leo Igwe.
Open to the public, this roundtable discussion is just one step in a long series of similar efforts undertaken by Dr. Igwe and AfAW over the course of several years in Nigeria and other parts of Africa toward fighting persecution of people (especially women and girls) suspected and accused of being witches or black magicians. The last such event took place in Yola, Adamawa State on January 20, 2025.
To get a glimpse into Dr. Igwe’s methods and goals behind his activism, readers can take a look at his July 2024 interview with Thoughtfox.
A coastal state famous for its Idanre Hill in southwestern Nigeria, Ondo has Lucky Aiyedatiwa as its current governor. Per the NHRC website, the Commission’s Ondo State Coordinator currently is Sunday Oyewole.
Dr. Piyush Mathur taught Communication at the American University of Nigeria through 2006-2008; he is the author of the book Technological Forms and Ecological Communication: A Theoretical Heuristic (Lexington Books, 2017).