Elderly man suspected of wizardry beaten up after ‘spirit of chief’s dead son’ allegedly exposes him

According to reports, the incident which occurred in Nyambong in the Oti Region, involved residents assaulting the elderly man, who appeared frail and helpless.

Narrating the incident on Adom FM on August 27, 2024, the Assemblyman of Nyambong, Christian Kwaku Ndeke, stated that the death of the chief’s son, after being hit by a bicycle, prompted the family to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.

According to allegations, the spirit of the deceased reportedly possessed some family members, who accused the elderly man of being responsible for the boy’s death, leading to his brutal treatment and torture.

“We have a tradition where when someone dies mysteriously or in strange circumstances, they perform certain rites to investigate the cause of death. Also, the spirit of the deceased can possess a family member to find out the cause of death.

“As they were mourning the mysterious death of the chief’s son, the spirit of the deceased possessed some family members who then marched to the elderly man’s house to accuse him of being a wizard and causing the boy’s death. They then beat him and locked him up in a room. The man’s plea of being innocent was not even heard,” he said.

Christian Ndeke further disclosed that the elderly man had to flee for his life after being locked up for days.

He said that efforts by the police to intervene were futile.

However, he said calm has been restored in the community after authorities performed rituals to drive away the deceased’s spirit.

“The police even tried intervening to rescue the victim but the elderly man fled the town for fear of his life. He has since returned back to the community after they performed some rituals to drive away the spirit of the deceased,” he said.

No arrest has been made so far, the report said.