Man who shot himself testing ‘bulletproof’ charm has fled Abuja -By Leo Igwe

The Advocacy for Alleged Witches informs the public that Mr Islmail Usman, the man who shot himself in the stomach in the process of testing a ‘bulletproof’ charm known in some parts of the country as Odeshi, can no longer be traced. The police stated this during a telephone conversation with AfAW. The police informed AfAW following some inquiries to provide the man with humanitarian assistance. The Advocacy for Alleged Witches campaigns to support victims of witch persecution and ritual attacks. In the case of Usman, he was his victim, both the victim and the victimizer. He did not shoot someone while testing the bulletproof charm, he shot himself.

Usman believed in the charm’s potency, hence, he used himself to test the charm. AfAW planned to provide Usman with humanitarian assistance and use his case for public education and enlightenment. But the plan is on hold because the police have no information regarding his whereabouts. This morning, the Advocacy for Alleged Witches contacted the Commissioner of Police for the Federal Capital Territory(FCT), Olatunji Rilwan Disu, proposing to give Usman some humanitarian assistance. The CP readily welcomed the idea and referred AfAW to the FCT police public relations officer, who referred AfAW to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Byazin, the division where the case happened. In a telephone conversation, the DPO commended the Advocacy for Alleged Witches for the initiative. He noted that Mr Usman was not at the Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital as speculated. Usman was referred to the hospital but did not go there. The police officer said they were told that Usman had returned to Katsina and could no longer be contacted. That the police had no information about his current location. They could no longer trace him.