The long detained Anambra native doctor Chidozie Nwangwu, widely known as Akwa Ọkụkọ Tiwara Akị, will be appointed Ambassador of Youth Reorientation after completing his jail sentence. This directive was included in the judgement delivered by Justice Jude Obiorah on Friday, following the thirteen months he spent in pretrial detention.
Akwa Ọkụkọ was arrested in February 2025 alongside two other native doctors, Onyebuchi Isaac Okocha, also known as Prophet Onye Eze Jesus, and Ekene Nwokeocha Igboekweze, also known as Eke Hit, by operatives of the Anambra security outfit Agunechemba Security Outfit. Their arrest was part of the state government’s intensified action against individuals linked to kidnapping, money rituals and illicit wealth practices disguised as spiritual activities.
In the suits marked A 40C 2025, A 41C 2025 and A 42C 2025, Justice Obiorah sentenced Nwangwu to two years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to several charges and entered a plea bargain with the state. The conviction was based on the Criminal Code and the Anambra Homeland Security Law, which prohibit ritual wealth practices and supernatural claims connected to unlawful conduct.
The court ruled that the two year jail term applied to counts three to eight and that the sentences would run concurrently. Some earlier counts were struck out, and the judge considered his expression of remorse as a mitigating factor. Although the court had initially imposed fines of twenty million naira each on three counts, totalling sixty million naira, Justice Obiorah waived the fines due to the remorse shown and noted that the state did not require such money under the circumstances.
The court further ordered that the thirteen months already spent in detention be deducted from the two year term, leaving about eleven months for him to serve at the Awka Correctional Centre. A request by the defence for him to serve at the Agunechemba facility was rejected because that facility is not a lawful correctional institution.
Alongside the custodial sentence, the court issued corrective measures aimed at discouraging similar conduct. It ordered the demolition of his shrine in Oba and permanently barred him from engaging in Okeite or related ritual practices. Justice Obiorah also mandated that after serving his sentence, he must publicly renounce such practices and record a video warning young people against seeking wealth through supernatural or illicit means.
As part of his rehabilitation and reintegration, the court directed that Akwa Ọkụkọ will be appointed Ambassador of Youth Reorientation, with a responsibility to educate young people and dissuade them from engaging in criminal or ritual related activities.
