Rebecca Adewumi

Rebecca Adewumi (c. 1942–30 June 2012), also spelled Rebecca Adewunmi, was a Nigerian woman murdered in Omuo-Ekiti, Ekiti State, following accusations of witchcraft.[1][2] She was accused of using witchcraft to cause her stepson Ola Adewumi illness.[1][3] According to her family, Rebecca Adewuni was subjected to a trial by ordeal in the palace of the Olomuo of Omuo-Ekiti and later beaten to death by youths.[1][4]

Her murder attracted the condemnation of the Ekiti State Government, which led to a police investigation, and the prosecution of three people for conspiracy to commit murder, unlawful accusation of witchcraft, trial by ordeal, unlawful deprivation of liberty, and murder.[2][3] Her murder is since then cited in reports and research regarding accusations of witchcraft and violence against older persons in Nigeria.[5][6]

Accusation and alleged ordeal

Rebecca Adewumi, a 70-year-old woman from Omuo-Ekiti in Ekiti East local government, was accused by her stepson’s of using witchcraft to make him sick.[1][3] According to the Ekiti State Government, Adewuni’s illness resulted from a girl saying that she saw Adewumi’s spirit in her dream.[2] Similarly, journalist Olusegun Adeniyi reports that Adewumi was accused of causing her stepson’s illness after a woman claimed to see her in a dream tormenting her son.[4]

According to her daughter, Grace Smith, Adewumi’s stepson accused her of causing his illness by witchcraft and she was called before the Olomuo of Omuo-Ekiti, Oba Noah Omonigbehin, the same day to face an ordeal.[1][4] She narrated that her mother was instructed to come back to the palace the following day at 6 am. Upon arrival, Adewumi was asked to undress to her underwear and questioned regarding the allegation.[1][4]

She was then forced to drink a concoction made from Obo leaves, which, according to Smith, was intended to make one who resorts to witchcraft to confess and die.[1][4] Adewumi was told that if she was responsible for her stepson’s illness she would die within seven (7) days.[1][4]

Smith further alleged that Adewumi did neither confess nor died within the stipulated period.[4] She added that they went back to Lagos on 26 June but on their return, youths dragged Adewumi out of her house, forced her to take another drink, and beat her heavily in the rains.[4] According to Grace Smith, Adewumi was beaten in the room before being pulled back to her room.[4]

The contemporary report of Vanguard further attributed the allegation and ordeal to Adewumi’s family.[1] The report, however, revealed that the accusation of witchcraft was not part of the charges that led to police investigation. The unlawful accusation of witchcraft and ordeal were part of the charges levelled against the perpetrators.[3]

Death and investigation

Adewumi died on 30 June 2012 from an alleged assault linked to the accusation of witchcraft.[2][7] According to reports, Adewumi’s murder was committed by a group of youths known as the “Omekula”.[8] However, according to the Nation report, the group’s name is spelt “Imekula”.[9] The Nation further reported that Ola Adewumi, whose allegation prompted the murder, died from an illness that struck him following Adewumi’s death.[9]

The Adewumi family filed a police report after Adewumi’s death.[10] According to Vanguard, her family’s lawyer, Femi Omotoso, filed a police complaint and called for investigations and prosecutions of those responsible for the death.[1] The police investigation started with an examination of the circumstances surrounding the ordeal in Oba Noah Omonigbehin’s palace.[11]

The police also invited the Oba for questioning.[11] In addition, Adewumi’s family members opposed the initial post-mortem results performed by the doctors at Ekiti State Teaching Hospital.[8][12] According to her family, Adewumi’s death was not caused by a long-standing ulcer as the autopsy report revealed. Rather, her family asserted that she was murdered after the ordeal.[8] The pathologist, O. T. Taiwo, who performed the autopsy was called to give evidence in the court, but his absence was noted in November 2013.[12]

Government response

The Ekiti State Ministry of Women Affairs, Social Development and Gender Empowerment strongly reacted to the brutal killing. On 14 July 2012, it issued a statement condemning the killing of Adewumi.[2] In the statement, the ministry spelt Adewumi’s name as “Adewunmi” and described her as a “70-year-old woman from Omuo-Ekiti” who was killed by some youths after being accused of witchcraft.[2]

According to the statement by the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Social Development and Gender Empowerment, Fola Richie-Adewusi, the killing was a crime and “violates the Ekiti State law” and called for immediate arrests.[2] Richie-Adewusi further criticized the lack of immediate arrests by police after the killing. According to her, police received instructions from community leaders to ignore the case, as it involved an allegation of witchcraft.[2]

The Gender-Based Violence Prohibition Act, which was signed into law by the state’s governor Kayode Fayemi in November 2011, forbids physical abuse, murder, and other harmful traditional practices.[2] She called for the lawmakers to arrest those involved in Adewungi’s killing and prosecute them.[2]

Criminal proceedings

The first defendants to appear before the court were Chief Dayo Olatunbosun Orojo, the head of Ilisa quarters in Omuo-Ekiti; Adesola Adewumi and Feranmi Abe.[13][3] The three were released from police custody but put on bail in September 2012.

The defendants, alongside other persons at large, stood trial on six charges, including felony, conspiracy to commit murder, unlawful accusation of witchcraft, and trial by ordeal, unlawful deprivation of liberty, and murder.[3] In December 2012, Justice Oluwatoyin Bodunde of the Ekiti State High Court denied bail to the defendants citing various reasons.[3] She directed that the defendants continue to have access to healthcare.[3]

In the May 2013 trial, Orojo’s lawyers argued that his police statement was taken forcefully and moved for a trial within a trial to challenge its admissibility.[7] Justice Bodunde granted the request for a trial within a trial and during cross-examination, Orojo confessed to having lied about Adewangi’s fingers being cut and about her being given a potion to force her to reveal if she resorted to witchcraft.[7]

The prosecution further wanted to call the pathologist who performed the post-mortem examination.[12] However, because his testimony could not be produced in the November 2013 hearing, the court was postponed to January 2014 with a direction that the prosecution should conclude its evidence.[12] According to the Nation report, the prosecution of those responsible for Adewungi’s killing was discontinued after a long standoff.[9]

In July 2015, the Nation reported that the prosecution was discontinued after a long strike by judges and prosecutors.[9] The report noted that the Office of the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice filed a notice discontinuing the case after the strike.[9] The judge presiding over the case strongly objected to the discontinuance.[9] The reports further revealed that none of the defendants was convicted for Adewungi’s murder.[9]

Context

Adewungi’s killing was cited in research on supernatural beliefs and attitudes towards older persons in Ekiti State.[5] In a study published as a chapter in the 2016 book Touching Lives through Psychology and Other Crossover Issues , psychologists Sulaiman Olanrewaju Adebayo and Tosin Tunrayo Olonisakin examined paranormal beliefs and attitude towards older persons among adolescents in Ado-Ekiti.[5]

They determined that superstitions and witchcraft beliefs were among the paranormal beliefs that significantly predicted negative perception towards older persons.[5] In discussing the prevalence of witchcraft-related beliefs and attitudes towards older persons, the authors identified the case of a 70-year-old woman who was tortured to death in Omuo-Ekiti for being accused of using witchcraft.[5]

Adebayo and Olonisakin wrote that misfortunes, which could not be explained were often attributed to older persons especially women.[5] Adewungi’s murder was also reported by Nigerian journalist, Olusegun Adeniyi, in his column Apani Ma Wagun, Olokiki Oru.[4] In a review of extrajudicial killings in Nigeria, Adeniyi examined the circumstances surrounding Adewungi’s death and mostly relied on her daughter’s report, which was published previously by The Guardian.[4]

The case was further highlighted by humanist activist, Leo Igwe, in a 2013 commentary on killings in Africa linked to witchcraft accusations.[6] Igwe examined the violence often directed at older women and presented several cases across Africa.[6] Adewungi’s murder was cited as one of the many attacks directed at older persons.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ariyibi, Gbenga (13 July 2012). "Alleged witchcraft: Woman, 70, lynched over step-son's ordeal". Vanguard. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Women Affairs Ministry Condemns Killing Of 70 Year Old Woman". Government of Ekiti State, Nigeria. 14 July 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Ekiti chief to remain in prison till January for alleged murder". The Nation. 5 December 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Adeniyi, Olusegun. "Apani Ma Wagun, Olokiki Oru". Olusegun Adeniyi. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Adebayo, Sulaiman Olanrewaju; Olonisakin, Tosin Tunrayo (2016). "Social Psychology of Belief Perseverance and Attitude Formation: The Belief in the Paranormal and Attitudes of Adolescents towards the Aged in Ado-Ekiti". Touching Lives through Psychology and Other Crossover Issues. pp. 37–60. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Igwe, Leo (4 February 2013). "Witch-killing and Africans". The Nation. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 "Omuo-Ekiti killing: Prime suspect disowns statement". The Nation. 24 May 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 Ariyibi, Gbenga (26 July 2012). "Witchcraft: Woman's family rejects autopsy report". Vanguard. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Judge kicks over discontinuance of trial of Ekiti murder suspects". The Nation. 26 July 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  10. ↑ "Police Petitioned Over Murder of 70-Year-Old Woman". Daily Trust. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2026 – via AllAfrica.
  11. 1 2 Ariyibi, Gbenga (20 July 2012). "Witchcraft: Police to quiz Ekiti monarch over woman's death". Vanguard. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Omuo killing: Pathologist absent at hearing". The Nation. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  13. ↑ "Alleged witchcraft: Ekiti opposes case transfer". The Nation. 20 September 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
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