Ngbo community in Ohaukwu local government area of Ebonyi State,has launched manhunt for native doctors,’ Ezenwanyi’,suspected to be combining church services and voodoo.
The exercise is labelled,Nzacha na Nkpocha (cleansing) of the community.
The suspects are alleged to practice magical and religious rites, characterized by sorcery and spirit possession.
On Friday, elders, women and youths of the community begin destruction of the shrines including the ones they called, okeite shrines.
Behind one of the shrines set ablaze is a house decorated as a church altar where church services are conducted and the rites, thereafter sealed at the shrine.
Most of the indigenes of the area, lamented that they had suffered high rate of mysterious deaths in the Ngbo community, and that those who had been progressive have become impoverished.
Reagent of Umagudu Osha autonomous community, Ngbo, Prince Uche Ali Aga, said the operation is meant to liberate the people of Ngbo community from backwardness caused by some native doctors.
Prince Ali Aga disclosed that the native doctors have over the years, locked some keys that signify people’s destiny with names of persons, families ,projects and some naira note nailed to old tree trunks and keys padlocked in the shrines with the purpose of limiting the progress of people of the community.
He explained that premature death of the youths in Ngbo community is becoming alarming for which reason they deemed it necessary to sanitize the community to avert reoccurrence of such deaths .
He recalled that Ebonyi State House of Assembly had recently banned open masquerading in the community, a measure meant to address such acts and avert crisis.
He said:”We have come here and we saw two different altars, the altar of Jesus Christ and the altar of the deity. We have also seen untraditional and impracticable and very immodest activities of this woman Native Doctor who has tormented this community for a very long time.
“We have seen that this woman has locked up some keys with names of families and projects and some naira notes of some people in other for them not to progress and it is as old as you can see it yourself. These nailed naira notes might monies people dashed to someone who turned around to bring them to this shrine for evil”.
“This is not normal practice of Native Doctors we used to know when growing up in this community.We are here because there is this information that people are dying and the community is not progressing and you can see that nothing has been going on here .
The altar of Almighty God you are seeing here is a camouflage she uses it to decisive people”.
“The woman has been on the run, We mean the husband and the children and you can see that there are two women here using their two hands to bring the charms out of the same cult .The youths of this community have been effected very terribly we are here to salvage this ugly situation.
“You can see the population of people following the operation and why we are here. Somebody came and told us that there is another one there .You can see what is happening in Anambra state and it is the Ngbo leaders of thought that started it”, Prince Ali Aga added .