AUTHORITIES in Houston have jailed a 58 year old Nigerian witch doctor for 14 years for providing drug traffickers with magical and supernatural protection designed to make them invisible to detection officials.
In a bizarre case, Christopher Omigie, a self-acclaimed African herbalist has been sent to serve time at a US federal prison for his offence.
At a court hearing on April 30, prosecutors told the presiding judge Marcia Crone, that Mr Omigie presented himself to drug traffickers as a witch doctor who had the powers to prevent them from being arrested while they smuggled banned drugs and was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to give supernatural protection from law enforcement.
A prosecution spokesman said: “Omigie was consulted by drug traffickers in the Cesar Barrera and David Bazan drug trafficking organisations on a daily basis and before, during and after each drug transaction. The supernatural protections rendered involved card readings, massages with magic ointments, cutting of the skin with razor blades and the topical application of magic powder, the use of magic amulets, magic belts, magic coconuts and magic rocks."
According to the prosecutors, Mr Omigie demanded the smugglers do not have sex or take a shower after they had applied his magical products so they will not diminish the potency of his work. Magic law stay-away’ candles were also burned in order to protect drug traffickers from law enforcement detection, while Mr Omigie would regularly return to Africa, at the drug traffickers’ expense, to re-new his supernatural powers.
However, Mr Omigie’s attorney, Jonathan Goins, criticised the US prosecutors for calling his client a witch doctor, arguing that Mr Omigie was a respected chief in Nigeria. He added that his client had a minimal role in the drug scheme and his sentence was greatly out of proportion.
Mr Goins said: “Mr Omigie is a Nigerian tribal chief, a title he inherited from his father and he is a native doctor. The term witch doctor is both pejorative and wrong.”
“While Mr. Omigie was involved in this drug scheme, he was not a major figure in this. In fact his involvement was extremely limited and minor.”
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