Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has defended his administration’s ongoing crackdown on some native doctors, insisting the move is not aimed at traditional religion but at criminal elements hiding under its cover.
Speaking during a media chat in Awka on Friday, March 20, 2026, the governor emphasised that his government recognises and respects traditional worship but will not tolerate practices that encourage criminality.
“They call it ‘oso Soludo,’ that is the run by criminal native doctors. We have made this very clear over and over again that we understand traditional religion.
“We also understand the difference between traditional religion and criminal idolatry. We support freedom of worship and freedom of religion,” he said.
“Anybody can worship the way they want, provided they realise that their right ends where another person’s begins.
“Where such practices begin to breed criminality, that is where we come in. Traditional religion is a purist religion,” he added.
Soludo alleged that some native doctors aid kidnappers and armed robbers by preparing charms, while also engaging in harmful practices, including alleged human sacrifices for money and protection.
He said the state government has a responsibility to curb such acts, linking them to the rise of practices like ‘Ego Mbute,’ ‘Oke-Ite,’ and ‘Yahoo Plus,’ as well as a resurgence of idolatry in Igbo socio-cultural life.
According to the governor, these activities have no connection with genuine traditional medicine or practices rooted in service to God and humanity, stressing that those involved must be exposed and dealt with decisively.
As part of the crackdown, the state government has arrested and prosecuted several suspects.
Among them is a Nnewi-based native doctor, Johnpaul Ezenagu, popularly known as “Mmuo Mmili Afulu Anya,” who was apprehended by the Anambra State Agunechemba Strike Force over allegations of performing illegal rituals and supplying counterfeit currency to internet fraudsters.
Operatives led by the Special Adviser to the governor on Community Security, Ken Emeakayi, raided Ezenagu’s residence in Nnewi, where he led them to a water shrine allegedly used for such rituals. Attempts by authorities to verify his claim of summoning a water goddess—said to appear in the form of an alligator—yielded no result.
In a related development, another self-acclaimed native doctor, Chidozie Nwangwu, also known as “Akwa Okuku Tiwara Aki n’Oba,” was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in February following his arrest last year. A High Court sitting in Awka ruled that part of his sentence would run concurrently with the period he had already spent in custody.
