At least 100 women last Tuesday stormed
the Enugu State Government House,
protesting against alleged ritual
killings and forceful marriages to
traditional deities.



According to the claims, 11 ladies
living in their respective communities
were murdered within a space of 2 weeks.


The women alleged that suspected ritual
killers and chief priests of different
deities in the Enugu-Ezike,
Igboeze-North Local Government Area of
the state had roles to play in the death
of the deceased.

Wearing black dresses and holding palm
leaves, the protesting women pleaded
with Governor Sullivan Chime to ban
forceful marriages to traditional gods
in council areas.

The protesters also pleaded with Chime
to come to their aid to unravel and stop
the killing of women through fetish
activities of chief priests and deities
in Enugu Ezike.

Their demands were listed in a petition
to the governor at the Government House
gate. The petition reads in part:

"We also appeal for outright ban of any
deity from forced marriage of our women
as it violates sections 34 (1), 35 (1)
and 42 (1) of the 1999 Constitution of
Federal Republic of Nigeria and Africa
charter on human and peoples' rights."

The protesters claimed that at Amachalla
and Ugbaike communities, two ladies -
Victoria Ugwuanyi and Rosemary Ugwuanyi
- were forcefully "married" to a deity
called "Iyakpala Ugbaike."

The chief priest of the deity is alleged
to have also forced the daughter of a
deceased man to marry him after claiming
that the same deity killed the father of
the girl.

Wtf!!!

Sad news, enugu is still a nice place though.