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By SCM Reporter I Sunday, Sept 13, 2026
AN EIGHTY-YEAR-OLD grandfather was brutally beaten to death by a bloodthirsty mob after being falsely accused of using “witchcraft” to kill a young relative, The Sun can reveal.
Frail pensioner Ordue Ikye begged for his life as an enraged crowd set upon him in Tse-Ikye, a quiet village in Benue State, Nigeria.
The helpless pensioner repeatedly protested his innocence to his final breath, but his desperate pleas fell on deaf ears as the mob took the law into their own hands.
Framed by Superstition
The tragedy erupted after a younger relative, Aker Aleva, tragically passed away in a local hospital following a sudden illness.
Rather than accepting the medical reality of the death, grief-stricken villagers turned on elderly Ordue, blaming his supposed “dark magic” for the young man’s passing.
Neighbours launched a horrific attack, thrashing the defenceless pensioner to death in front of terrified onlookers.
Now, human rights campaigners are demanding Nigerian authorities launch an immediate, transparent, and impartial murder investigation to bring the killer mob to justice.
Hidden Epidemic
This horrific lynching exposes a dark, hidden epidemic sweeping through rural communities, where innocent lives are ruined by superstitious hysteria.
Charities warn that witchcraft accusations almost always start within families or tight-knit villages following a sudden illness, sudden death, or crop failure.
Elderly men and women are the primary targets, alongside those living in poverty or suffering from physical disabilities and dementia.
Human rights experts are calling on the Nigerian government to urgently roll out a nationwide education campaign to protect vulnerable elders and end these medieval-style lynchings once and for all.