…….Crackdown on fake native doctors
April 10, 2025
By Adedoja Adesoji
Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, has disclosed that 23 indigenes of the state are currently on death row in Indonesia for drug-related offenses.
He made this revelation while addressing members of the All Progressives Congress who defected to the All Progressives Grand Alliance in support of his re-election bid.
“Go to Indonesia, 23 Ndi Anambra are on death row there for drug-related offenses,” Soludo stated.
He attributed this development to the influence of fake native doctors who deceive young people into believing they can evade security checks when smuggling drugs by using charms.
Soludo warned that anyone caught making such deceptive claims would be arrested, noting that many self-proclaimed native doctors cannot even use their powers to improve their own lives.
He cited an example of a native doctor in detention whose son is a waiter in a hotel in Nnewi.
“If it was that simple, why didn’t he make his son a millionaire?” Soludo questioned.
He added that some of these native doctors deceive young people into believing they can become rich without working, as long as they perform certain rituals.
The Governor expressed concern that such beliefs are damaging to the mindset of youths in the state.
“That is why you see young people who wake up in the morning and retire to beer parlors drinking, hoping to get rich later in life,” he said.
Soludo emphasized that the state is not opposed to traditional religion but is determined to clamp down on those promoting dangerous practices in the name of spirituality.
“We are not against traditional worshippers; what we are against is people who are doing dangerous medicines and charms,” he clarified.
Soludo reaffirmed his administration’s resolve to continue the clampdown on promoters of Oke ite and other get-rich-quick schemes.