According to a report by The Sun News, on Friday, March 6, 2026, a United States-based pharmacist and social advocate, Mr Martin Nwabueze, has publicly challenged the Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo, regarding the recently established Oke Ite law, which focuses on the activities of native doctors within the state.
Nwabueze expressed significant reservations about the transparency and timing of this new legislation, pointing out that the state government began arresting traditional practitioners a mere two days after the law was officially ratified.
He highlighted the plight of several practitioners who claimed they were caught off guard by the new regulations, specifically noting their confusion over the criminalisation of traditional items commonly referred to as 'good luck charms' in Igboland.
These individuals maintained that they were merely continuing cultural practices they believed were entirely legal until the sudden wave of state enforcement began.
In response to these claims of confusion, Governor Soludo has remained firm in his stance that a lack of legal awareness does not provide a valid shield against prosecution once a statute has been formally enacted.
This legal tension was brought into sharp focus by the high-profile case of Akwa Okuko, a prominent native doctor who was recently handed a two-year prison sentence under the new regulations.
This specific conviction has ignited a broad societal debate, with supporters praising the administration for taking decisive steps to eliminate criminal activities disguised as ritualism, while critics like Nwabueze argue that the haste and method of enforcement raise serious ethical concerns.
Nwabueze, who co-founded the non-governmental organisation Tilova For Africa, leveraged his platform as a humanitarian leader to demand a higher standard of consistency from the state government.
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