The conference on witchcraft began today at the B.I.C Ijomah Centre for Policy and Research of the University of Nigeria, Nsuka (UNN).
The event ends Thursday, November 28.
One of the lead papers presented by Prof. Damian Opata was entitled: ‘The wealthy are no witches: Towards an epistemology and ideology of witchcraft among the Igbo of Nigeria.’
Other topics were ‘Security and Witchcrafts in the Traditional beliefs and practices of the Kaliba (Huba) Community in Northern Nigeria. C 1500 – 1992’ by Samuel Wycliff; ‘The position of the law in respect of witchcraft in Nigeria: An exposition’ by Okunowo Olaitan Oladele and Alake Adeleke; ‘Theology and Witchcraft’ by Asadu Ngozi and Ihuoma Chizoba and ‘Witchcraft and the law: The Nigerian perspective’ by Okichie Ebelechukwu Lawretta.
Prior to event, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) declared a two-day “prayer of warfare” against the conference.
Enugu chapter chairman of PFN chairman, Mr. Godwin Madualso in a statement called for the cancellation of the conference which he described as “sponsoring evil.”
“So, all Christians should, without further delay, call on the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the awesome God of David to fight for his name,” Madualso said.
Some students of the University also protested against the conference, saying it was “works of agents of darkness.”
Some of the posters bore placards with writings such ‘UNN belongs to Jesus’, ‘Witches and Wizard, No vacancy’, ‘Say no to the meeting of Witches and Wizard’, ‘We are a Christian community’, ‘Don’t pollute our environment’.
But organisers of the conference said it was a mere academic exercise “to interrogate the various things people think is witchcraft,” and not a “gathering of witches” as is being alleged.
