But local residents weren’t taking any chances. When he died, the Doguwa all left.”ģWhere the spirits went was anyone’s guess. When you went to see him, you did not meet them. He made a house for the spirits in his palace. When a Doguwa spirit attacked someone, he could stop it. But Soumana had medicine to prevent Doguwa spirits from killing people. would slaughter the Doguwa spirit to get rid of her if she refused to spare her victim”.
As a Dogondoutchi resident explained to me, “it is because Soumana is dead that Doguwa spirits are attacking so many people. Though he took pains to listen to the victimized parties and tried not to antagonize religious leaders who demanded retribution, he nonetheless actively discouraged people from bringing witchcraft cases to his court.ĢWith Soumana gone, there was no one to confront the bloodthirsty spirits, known as Doguwa (“the long ones”), when they zeroed in on their victims. Amadou kept the old woman in the chiefly residence until it was safe for her to come out. Soon after, a wealthy widow accused of having caused the death of several persons in her neighbourhood was pursued by a mob of children, eager to administer the punishment traditionally meted out to witches: death by stoning. No charge were ever brought against the suspected witch, a prosperous Muslim trader from whom the old woman bought spices and other food supplies. When an old woman came to him hoping to be rid of the Doguwa who had caught her, Chief Amadou dismissed the attack as a simple case of epilepsy. In his eyes, being Muslim implied being disengaged from the world of spirits. When Soumana died in 1981, he was succeeded by his brother Amadou who was a progressive leader and a fervent Muslim, and did not believe that people could be attacked by spirits. According to some residents, the rise of witchcraft attacks has something to do with the death of Chief Soumana, the former chef de canton who had the power to tame bloodthirsty spirits and keep them locked up in his palace. Victims of such forms of witchcraft typically lose their blood to a blood-sucking spirit and wither away unless something is done to extract them from the clutches of their spiritual attackers 2. Girls’ song about Usuman the witch, 1994.ġIn Dogondoutchi, a town of some 38,000 Hausa-speaking people 1 in Arewa, southern Niger, cases of spirit-induced witchcraft have been supposedly rising over the past two and a half decades. The Doguwa, whether you like or not, will also follow you We want him to drink it, he has no choice but to drink it.Īmadou, you are finished because you followed Usuman. Whether he wants it or nor, they are going to give him the water of sacrifice to drink. I am Muslim and they are going to give me the water of sacrifice to drink.
He who, some said, wasn’t a witch, he ate the life of forty-nine people. showed his witchcraft everywhere in Balgo. To show him because he said that his father was not a witch. his daughter’s soul, every night Usuman leaves to do his witchcraft. You are the one who killed all the children.ĭako has not accepted the death of his daughter, you must pay him. You, Usuman, you’re the only witch of the village of Balgo. He is the witch who caught the soul of Dako’s daughter. “In the village of Balgo, who is the witch? It’s Usuman.
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