Eight Women Accused Of Witchcraft Killed In Guinea-Bissau

Eight women in the remote north of Guinea-Bissau were reportedly poisoned and murdered, a top official said on Thursday.

The ladies were accused of practising witchcraft, according to AFP reports.

Naija News reports that an animist priest forced the women to swallow poison when two children in the Cacheu district of Culade died suddenly from illness.

A senior administrative officer in the town, Carlos Sanha, detailed that the eight ladies, all over the age of 50, died while 21 others were hospitalized in the local capital of Sao Domingos.

Sanha said, “It keeps recurring in this area,where traditional animist beliefs remain strong,

“We intend to take the decisions needed to put an end to these practices from ancestral times.

“It’s sad and unacceptable in the 21st century. We can no longer tolerate such practices.”

Guinea Junta Seizes Passport, Freezes Accounts Of Dissolved Government Officials

Meanwhile, Guinea’s ruling military junta has ordered government members’ bank accounts to be frozen and their passports to be seized after dissolving the administration for reasons yet undisclosed.

Naija News reports that the military, which seized power in a coup in September 2021, issued a decree on Monday announcing the dissolution of the government, which had been in office since July 2022.

In the presence of approximately 20 other soldiers, Chief of Staff, General Ibrahima Sory Bangoura announced on state television that the junta ordered the freezing of their accounts, confiscation of their travel documents, and removal of their service vehicles, bodyguards, and assistants, with no public explanation provided for these actions yet.