By Chibuike Nkwede
An 85-year-old woman in Zamfara State has reportedly been subjected to severe physical abuse after she was accused of witchcraft by a woman whose newborn baby she had gone to visit.
The incident, according to the Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW), involved the elderly woman being beaten, stripped naked, dragged on the ground and assaulted with sticks, pestles and other objects.
The organisation’s Director, Leo Igwe, said on Friday that the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) office in Zamfara shared an audio recording of the alleged incident with AfAW on August 18, 2026.
Igwe said the woman had visited a recently delivered mother simply to exchange pleasantries when she was allegedly accused of being a witch.
According to him, the elderly woman denied the allegation, but the accusation quickly attracted a mob, which allegedly subjected her to a violent attack.
He said the attackers pelted her with stones and beat her with pestles and sticks, leaving her with serious injuries, including wounds to her head and hand.
The mob, he alleged, also dragged the woman along the floor, pushed her into a toilet and struck her with the toilet seat while threatening to kill her if anything happened to the newborn.
The abuse reportedly escalated when the attackers stripped the elderly woman naked and repeatedly slapped her.
She was allegedly ordered to step over the newborn several times as a supposed test to establish whether she was a witch.
When the woman questioned how she was expected to carry out the demand, she was reportedly beaten and threatened with further violence.
Igwe said she eventually complied and stepped over the baby, only for the mob to allegedly force her to repeat the act several times. She was also reportedly compelled to perform the same act over the baby’s mother.
The attackers were further said to have discussed bringing in a traditional priest to determine whether the elderly woman was a witch, while the possibility of taking her to a police station was also mentioned.
Following the attack, the woman was reportedly taken to a hospital where she received medical treatment before being discharged.
However, Igwe said the alleged accusations and harassment did not end after her release from the hospital.
He added that the victim had identified some of those allegedly involved in the assault as members of her family whom she had known for many years.
According to him, the elderly woman is now seeking justice over the alleged assault.
A photograph reportedly made available to AfAW showed the woman crying, with visible bruises on her face and injuries across parts of her body.
The organisation has condemned the alleged treatment of the elderly woman and called for appropriate action to ensure that those responsible are held accountable.