85-Year-Old Woman Beaten, Stripped Over Witchcraft Accusation in Zamfara

An 85-year-old woman in Zamfara State was allegedly beaten, stripped naked and subjected to other forms of physical abuse after being accused of witchcraft by a woman whose newborn baby she had gone to visit.

The Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW) disclosed the incident in a statement issued by its Director, Leo Igwe, on Friday, saying the National Human Rights Commission office in Zamfara had shared an audio recording of the attack with the organisation on August 18, 2026.

According to Igwe, the elderly woman had visited the new mother simply to exchange pleasantries when she was accused of being a witch.

She denied the allegation, but the accusation drew a mob that turned on her.

"A mob gathered and started pelting her with stones, beating her with pestles and sticks. In the process, she sustained serious injuries, and blood was gushing out from her head and hand," Igwe said.

"The mob dragged her on the floor, pushed her into the toilet, hit her with the toilet seat, and threatened to kill her if the baby died," he added.

The attackers reportedly stripped the woman naked, slapped her repeatedly and ordered her to step over the newborn several times to "prove" she was not a witch, beating and threatening her when she questioned how she was supposed to carry out the act.

"She complied and stepped over the baby. They forced her to repeat the act multiple times. The mob forced her to do the same to the mother of the baby," Igwe stated.

He said the attackers had also discussed bringing in a traditional priest to determine whether the woman was a witch, as well as taking her to the police station.

She was eventually taken to a hospital, treated and discharged.

But Igwe said the abuse did not end there, noting that the accusations against the woman continued even after she left the hospital.

He said she had identified some of her attackers as family members she had known for years.

"The victim is now asking for justice. The photo made available to AfAW showed the woman weeping with a bruised face and injuries all over her body," he said.

Igwe said AfAW had reached out to the NHRC office multiple times to gather more information and offer legal and humanitarian support to the woman, but was told that members of her own family had blocked those efforts because they did not want the matter made public.

He described the case as part of a wider, troubling pattern in which victims of witchcraft accusations, most of them women, are left without justice after being attacked by relatives or people in their own communities.

"Many alleged witches, especially women subjected to torture and persecution, suffer a similar fate. They are left to lick their wounds and die with the trauma," Igwe said.

"Family members, who in many cases are among the accusers and tormentors, block efforts to secure justice and seek redress. The pattern must be disrupted," he added.

Igwe called on the Zamfara State Government to step in and ensure the elderly woman gets justice and the support she needs, and urged law enforcement to investigate the incident and prosecute those responsible.

"She is physically and psychologically hurt and needs justice to heal and realise closure," he said.

"Those who accused and subsequently subjected her to horrific abuse should not get away with their crimes. They should be arrested, prosecuted, and jailed," he said.

Igwe insisted that witchcraft accusations should never be used to justify violence or shield perpetrators from accountability.

"These serious violations should not be excused or swept under the carpet. The public should speak out and make sure that alleged witches do not continue to suffer and die in silence," he said.

"Witch persecution persists because of impunity, because persecutors are not penalised," he added.

Responding to the allegations, the Public Relations Officer of the Zamfara State Police Command, Abubakar Yazid, said the matter had not been formally reported to the police.

‘This incident was not reported to the police but with this we are going to find out and do the necessary,’ Yazid said in a text message.