Salisu Lawan, 22, was detained by the Gombe State Police Command for reportedly using a pestle to kill his father Usman Bello in the state's Akko Local Government Area.
On August 9, 2023, ASP Mahid Mu'azu Abubakar, the command's spokesperson, revealed this in a statement as Lawan was paraded alongside other detainees detained for a variety of offences in the state.
The PPRO claims that Lawan hit his father, 65, on the head with a pestle while making a witchcraft accusation.
The spokesperson expressed concern over murder instances that have been connected to witchcraft, when victims claimed to have seen other persons in their nightmares and believed they were to blame for their predicament, which led to the murdering of the purported witches.
The PRO claimed that another incident involving a young man who attacked an elderly man and left his body in a river was connected to witchcraft. The elderly man had asked the young man to help him cross a stream.
Because the problem of witchcraft is not covered by the law, ASP Abubakar stated that CP Etim and the Police disapprove of such acts and ordered that members of the public refrain from engaging in them.
"You cannot bring someone, take him to herbalists, and force him to admit that he is a wizard by what we call trial by ordeal. That is an experimental trial that the law does not cover. When a person admits to themselves, "Yes, I am that." We know what to do with him, and the law can take effect against him, said ASP Abubakar.
Because trial by ordeal was a serious offense that might put the offender or any party engaged in the case in court, he urged traditional leaders and religious figures to warn against it.
During his procession, the suspect spoke with reporters and begged for forgiveness, saying he had no idea when he struck his father with the pestle.
