How religious leaders exploit desperate people with disabilities in Nigeria

People travel great distances in search of spiritual healing to alleviate their impairments, often without success

Originally published on Global Voices

By Toheeb Babalola

Nigeria is home to 29 million people with disabilities (PWDs) who are often willing to travel great distances in search of spiritual healing to alleviate their impairments. Regrettably, many eventually realise they have been deceived after losing substantial sums of money and resources.

According to the Word Bank Disability Assessment report, an estimated 7 percent of family members over the age of five (as well as 9 percent of those 60 and older) have some degree of difficulty in at least one functional domain, including seeing, hearing, communicating, cognition, walking, or self-care. 

When it comes to seeking spiritual healing, Damilola Olawoyin, a 32-year-old blind teacher, has had enough experiences to leave him with long-term emotional and psychological trauma.

Olawoyin began experiencing vision problems at the age of 10, but his parents were unaware. As a playful child, he kept it to himself until his vision began to worsen. This prompted his parents to take him from one hospital to another in search of a medical solution. After conducting various tests at the University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan, Oyo State, doctors diagnosed Olawoyin with glaucoma, a disease affecting the optic nerve.

His parents were advised not to touch his eyes after treatment to allow for gradual recovery. However, the treatment was not effective. So, as Olawoyin grew up, he had to rely on assistance from others to get around because of his poor vision.

In 2009, he embarked on a 208-km (129-mile) journey from Ikọtun, Lagos State, to Ile-Ifẹ in Osun State, in the southwest, hoping to find a solution. A relative of his maternal grandfather invited him to attend an open crusade at the Ife stadium. During the event, a woman evangelist, one of the crusade organizers, approached him and said, “Let me pray for you so that you can see again.”

“She claimed to know about my blindness without even asking,” Olawoyin recounted in an interview with Global Voices. “Before I knew it, two men arrived and dragged me to the podium to testify that my sight had returned. They forced me to say something that wasn’t true.”

After giving the false testimony, as Olawoyin returned to his seat, the evangelist invited him to meet her the next day. His father also travelled to Ile-Ifẹ to meet this woman who claimed she could restore his son’s vision.

The evangelist introduced them to a prophetess, who instructed the father and son to buy a white ram without blemishes and a crate of eggs, which would be used to prepare a soup for Olawoyin's vision restoration.

“I was told to stand on the ram and bathe with soap. Then, I began breaking the eggs one by one. Despite my objections, she eventually demanded NGN 17,000 (USD 10),” he revealed.

Olawoyin's vision worsened, and he lost his father. His mother later remarried.

In 2014, after returning to Lagos, Olawoyin’s mother, Funmilola, sought spiritual healing from a prophet at a Cherubim and Seraphim church in Ikotun-Egbe. She was introduced to him by a prophetess who was a friend of her new husband. “They said the prophet had the power to raise the dead. If he could do that, restoring my sight wouldn't be a problem,” Olawoyin noted. In the YouTube video below, Olawoyin and others share their experiences:

After a long wait, Olawoyin and his mother finally met the prophet. He unprofessionally pressed Olawoyin’s eyes, asked a few questions, and then demanded NGN 60,000 (USD 37). Despite his mother’s plea for a discount, the prophet remained firm on the price.

Eventually, she agreed to pay the money, the prophet prayed for her son, and they left for the house with a lot of questions going through Olawoyin's mind.

Two weeks later, as Olawoyin's mother was gathering the money to pay the prophet, chaos erupted at the church. She rushed over and saw a police van parked outside, with the church’s altar shattered. Officers had handcuffed the prophet, revealing he led a gang of violent armed robbers responsible for numerous bloodbaths in Lagos and beyond.

“That was heartbreaking. No one expected his arrest. He was the gang leader, using the church as a front,” Olawoyin said.

The police found cash, seven guns, charms, and other weapons in the church. The prophet was later charged and sentenced by the Lagos Magistrate’s Court.

In Apẹtẹ, Ibadan, Oyo State, Ridwan Tijani, a 30-year-old cobbler who uses a wheelchair, had a similar experience with a traditional healer named “Ìyá Ọsun” while seeking a cure for his paralysis.

Having been paralyzed from a young age, Tijani had little understanding of the cause of his disability. He recalled his father taking him to Ijẹbu Ode one afternoon to meet the woman at her traditional shrine called an Osun shrine.

After traveling 73 km (45 miles) from Ibadan to Ijẹbu Ode in Ogun State, Tijani met Ìyá Ọsun. She was dressed in simple white to match her shrine. She cut his legs with a razor, sucked the blood out with her mouth, and spat it onto pieces of white paper tied with black and white thread.

“At the time, there was someone named Ifa who would disappear in front of me but continue communicating. I wasn’t sure if he was human. Nothing worked, and I never saw them again after a few weeks,” Tijani told Global Voices. “We were seeking healing but saw them as magicians.”

Another man with visual impairment, Samuel Oluwasegun Dabiri, graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) with a degree in international relations.

Dabiri was ill with measles in 1996, and his parents were unable to seek medical help until the disease infiltrated his body and claimed both of his eyes. 

His father took him to the place of Sango, the god of thunder, where they were told to make sacrifices such as bringing rams, goats, and palm oil, as well as collecting a large sum of money. 

“Those things were more expensive back then than they are now. My father spent a significant amount of money to ensure the sacrifice took place, but it was a waste of money, resources, time, and even energy,” Dabiri told Global Voices.

After enduring various psychological traumas over the years, Olawoyin, Tijani, and Dabiri came to terms with their circumstances and continued with their careers. They urged the Nigerian government to enforce the Discrimination and Prohibition Against Persons With Disabilities Act of 2018.

What do experts say?

Grace Fehintola, the founder of God Grace Health Centre, expressed outrage over prophets pressing on deteriorating eyes, which could cause further damage to the eye socket. She also warned that soaps used for spiritual rituals, lacking professional endorsement, could harm the skin.

Yinka Olaito, executive director of the Centre for Disability and Inclusion Africa (CDIA), noted that religion has become like a highly addictive narcotic, and fake religious leaders are exploiting PWDs. He suggested that “religious bodies and their leaders should be educated on the dangers of these practices. For real progress to happen, law enforcement and the PWD community may need to collaborate.”

 

Written by Guest Contributor