BY OGORAMAKA AMOS/PERCY IDUBOR/PAUL EGEDE/RITA OYIBOKA
The legal profession, the lifelong dream of many, carries far more weight than its white wigs, black gowns, and shelves of law books suggest. Behind the solemn rituals of the courtroom lies a darker narrative, whispered in corridors and traded in hushed tones: the belief that lawyers face spiritual attacks.
This long-standing rumour has lingered in Nigeria’s justice system for decades, rarely challenged and often dismissed as superstition. But how true is it? To uncover the reality behind these claims, The Pointer spoke with legal practitioners across Asaba, Agbor, Benin, Port Harcourt, and Enugu, gathering first-hand accounts of strange experiences that many insist cannot be explained by logic alone.
Kelvin Osemene, Esq., a seasoned member of the Nigerian Bar with years of active legal practice, believes the concerns are far from mere superstition. The lawyer, who also doubles as a media practitioner, acknowledged that spiritual attacks are a real threat faced by legal professionals.
Speaking with The Pointer, Osemene said lawyers, like every other human being, are exposed to spiritual attacks, but added ‘’Everything depends on what you believe. Every human being is susceptible to spiritual manipulations, but your ability to withstand them depends on your conviction about the source of human existence: God.’’
To prove his point, Bar Osemene shared his story. ‘’There is a case of divorce that I am currently handling. Each time I want to continue the process, I have this feeling of procrastination. So one day, I decided that I must proceed with the matter. I took out my computer to work, but I did not know what made me bring out the kerosene that I had bought when I was still using a stove, but had long abandoned since I switched to cooking gas.
‘’In the process, the container fell and the contents poured on my computer, causing serious damage. Although I have finished the case, filing it appears to be a problem. The funny thing is that my client told me that when he went for the marriage, as they put the drinks on the table, everything fell to the ground, and today he is having a serious crisis in his marriage that he had to abandon his house.’’
He recalled that while he was still in secondary school and still thinking of what to study in the university, ‘’My eldest brother warned me: if you must succeed in spiritual attacks as a lawyer, you must belong to an occult group.’’ With that, he decided to study Mass Communication, but later went back to school to read Law.
‘’I have heard stories of people who suffered paralysis (Stroke) because of cases that they handled. But I believe that God is supreme. In school, we were told these things, but we have groups like the Christian Lawyers Fellowship of Nigeria (CLASFON).
‘’Everybody is aware that the job of a lawyer carries some risks. You can imagine a community struggling for land, and your submission will determine who gets it and who loses it. It is not easy. If they do not come physically, they will come spiritually. So, spiritual attacks on lawyers are true, but God is always on our side. We have lawyers who are pastors and bishops’’
In an interview with The Pointer, Enugu-based lawyer, Clara Eze, who has practised for over 10 years and specialises in Arbitration and Mediation, shared her perspective on the issue. According to her, “Personally, I’ve not experienced it, but I’ve had some colleagues talk about it, especially when you’re handling land matters or chieftaincy matters. Those are usually the types of cases where such things occur, because two parties are often contesting ownership or authority.
“A colleague of mine lives in one state but had a case in another. He woke up very early one morning and set out for court. His car was in perfect condition when he left; nothing was wrong with it at all. But immediately he entered the local government area where the matter was to be heard, his car broke down.
“He told me that it wasn’t the first time. Apparently, each time he had that particular case, his car would always break down the moment he entered that local government area. So, what he usually did afterwards was to take a motorcycle and proceed to court regardless. He knows how ‘strong’ he is to continue with such a matter. People at the court would even express surprise, saying things like, ‘Oh, you still came!’ It just shows that some matters can be very spiritual,” she explained.
When asked if she knew of any lawyer who might have spiritually fortified themselves before taking on certain cases, Eze said, “As I said, these things are personal. Everyone has something in their closet that you wouldn’t know, and I wouldn’t know. So, I can’t say for sure.”
On whether she personally prays or spiritually prepares before going to court, she said, “Yes, surely I do that every night. I do my midnight prayers without fail because I don’t joke with that. Life is more spiritual than physical, and you never know what the other party might have planned.”
Asked if she had ever felt spiritually threatened while handling a case, Eze recalled, “There was a case I handled in 2019, that one was a bit spiritual. Not directly on me, though, but on my boss. During that period, my boss was facing so many financial problems.
“I’ve also noticed that some of the older lawyers fortify themselves spiritually, though they won’t tell you. You just notice that a particular case seems dangerous or that someone’s life could be at risk, yet they continue with it confidently. I believe it’s because they have something backing them up.
“That my boss was like that, too. He kept going back and forth on that case until the suspect was finally arrested. I would say he must have fortified himself somehow. But as for me, I’m a Christian. I don’t bother with such things. I just rely on my faith and my prayers.”
However, for Barr Emeke Omogiafo, a Delta-based litigation lawyer with 13 years of courtroom experience, the story is quite different. Unlike Clara, he has personally faced what he describes as a spiritual attack during a land case in 2021.
Speaking with The Pointer, Omogiafo said, “I never believed in all that spiritual warfare talk, not until that case. I had been briefed by a client in a Delta community I will not mention over a land dispute that had lingered for almost 20 years. It was between two brothers, both dragging the same ancestral property. I knew it was going to be tough legally, but I didn’t expect it to turn into a battle of life and death.”
According to him, strange things began happening barely a week after he took up the matter. “The first sign was how I started waking up in the middle of the night, feeling like someone was sitting on my chest. I would struggle to breathe, like something was pressing me down. At first, I thought it was stress, but when it continued for days, I became alarmed.
“Then, on the first hearing date, my car refused to start. I checked the battery, fuel, and everything, all fine. I ended up using my wife’s car to go to court. The following night, my tyres burst, all four of them, while the car was parked. No explanation. That was when I started praying seriously,” he recounted.
When asked if he suspected anyone, Omogiafo said, “In that community, people don’t fight fair. Once land is involved, they can go to any length. My client even warned me that the other side had gone to meet a native doctor. I laughed it off initially, but the day I collapsed in court, I stopped laughing.”
He continued, “Yes, I actually collapsed in court, right in the middle of my submission. I felt dizzy, then blank. I woke up in the hospital. The doctor said my blood pressure was extremely low and couldn’t explain why. But a pastor friend who visited me told me outright that I was under spiritual attack. He prayed with me and advised me to fast for seven days.
“I obeyed. I prayed, fasted, and anointed myself daily before court sessions. After that, everything changed. My car worked fine, my sleep returned, and the case, which had dragged on for years, suddenly turned in our favour. We won.”
Barr Omogiafo said the experience changed his outlook entirely. “I used to mock colleagues who said they fortified themselves spiritually before major cases. Not anymore. Now I know better. Law may be a profession of logic and evidence, but in Nigeria, there are forces logic cannot explain. “I still don’t visit any herbalist or traditionalist, no. I’m a Christian, and my faith is enough. But I don’t step into court without praying and covering myself with the blood of Jesus. I’ve seen too much to take chances again.”
A Port Harcourt-based legal practitioner with 15 years of experience, Chidiebere Nwoke, recalled his experience. “It happened at a time when I was handling a highly sensitive oil-contract dispute. The case was against a well-connected corporate interest, and shortly after delivering an unexpected favourable ruling for my client, I began to experience a sequence of setbacks: witnesses dropping out, key documents disappearing, my health deteriorating, and a sense of unrest I couldn’t shake.
‘’I cannot prove anything supernatural, of course. But when you are a lawyer in this environment, you start to ask yourself: Is this just a coincidence, or is there something beyond the ordinary? I told some colleagues about it, and they advised I should be watchful. I believe I was exposed to what I would call a spiritual attack or at least a sense of manipulated forces behind the scenes.”
Guarding oneself, he says, involves a daily practice of prayer, an audible “declaration” before entering court, keeping a small Rosary (he calls it a “reminder of protection) in his briefcase, and a mentally sharp habit of re-reading his briefs, mapping out threats, rehearsing contingencies.
Although he has not been physically attacked, he was once followed from court to his car late at night. He told the matter to his colleagues and quietly moved. He now rarely leaves late without an escort.
For Barr Godwin Nchiele, who is a lawyer with eight years of practice, “Yes, I believe opponents in some matters deploy not only legal means but leverage personal, community, traditional or spiritual networks to destabilise you. “My protection strategy is that I fast once a month (for 24 hours, if time permits), I review clients’ documents and ensure they are represented properly. I am not just a profit-chasing lawyer. I also maintain a daily journal where I track my activities — the mental map helps me flag things early.
“On the physical/professional side: I was really lucky. During a trial, I found my office doors slightly open when I had locked them, and my table was scattered. I even saw a threat letter. I first of all relocated my client’s file, told my client who reported to the police what happened because I felt the threat was real.”
Another lawyer, Douglas Jaja, who has been practising for over six years, said, “I haven’t been attacked spiritually, but I have heard tales from older colleagues that such a thing exists. I find it quite amusing that some opponents will go to the extent of going diabolical just to win a case.”
“On physical threats, I’ve had professional hostility (someone tried to bribe me, someone else threatened to sue my firm for defamation), but nothing that I directly attribute to someone following or attacking me physically. Yet I am aware the risks are real for some of my colleagues.”
While some lawyers admit to having been spiritually attacked, others, like Barr Williams Chijoke, who has nine years in practice, hear such stories within the legal circles. ‘’I do hear older colleagues talk about ‘things you cannot quantify’, strange delays, witnesses disappearing, scheduling changes beyond the file, some even said they escaped strange accidents. But I treat those as part of working in this system”.
“My way of guarding: I keep a strict routine: I don’t work after midnight unless I have to. I make sure I’m present with family, and I try to keep my head clear so when things go wrong, I can ask: Is it me? Is it the circumstances? Is it something else? That clarity helps me detach from anxiety.
“On the physical front, I’ve had some verbal pressure when representing opposing interests in oil-and-gas contracts, but nothing that escalated to physical threat. I do, however, travel with a partner when the matter involves dangerous ground, and we always inform someone at our firm of our schedule. So, I approach the possibility of physical risk consciously, even if I haven’t yet felt it.”
However, Barr John Ibinabo, a Human Rights lawyer with over nine years in practice, told our correspondent, “For me, the threats have always been physical, not spiritual. When you represent victims of police brutality or challenge government agencies, you attract hostility. I’ve had my car trailed twice after court sessions. Once, two unidentified men came to my office pretending to be clients — they only asked questions about a case I was handling against a top official. I reported it quietly.
“I don’t see it as witchcraft or attack from unseen forces — it’s the real world of power and fear. My protection comes from documentation and visibility: I keep case files backed up, I inform the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Human Rights Committee whenever something suspicious happens, and I try not to move alone. The irony is that we defend others’ rights, yet we often need protection ourselves. That’s the darker side of advocacy in Rivers State.”
Similarly, Barr Grace Obinna, who has been in practice for six years, said, “I haven’t felt any spiritual attack, but physical intimidation? Yes. A few years ago, during a land-ownership dispute, some community youths blocked the road to the courthouse and hurled insults at me because I represented the opposing party.”
“I have even been harassed sexually. I’ve become very safety-conscious. I alert my colleagues and family members of my movement, share live location with them during sensitive cases, and avoid travelling to rural areas alone. I pray, yes, but my focus is practical security. The law can be dangerous when it clashes with local power and sentiment.”
In Agbor, headquarters of Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State, legal practitioners aired their views on attacks encountered in the process of discharging their professional duties.
One of the legal practitioners, Chukwuemeke Ogbuobodo, said, ‘’spirituality exists; if not, there would not have been the name ‘spirit’. Although it is something abstract, something one cannot hold and as a result, some think it does not exist.
Barr Ogbuobodo noted that on several occasions, they have seen situations where a lawyer slumped during a court proceeding, which people see as a rise in Blood Pressure (BP) or cardiac arrest. ‘’Again, sometimes a lawyer can attend court to defend his client but end up not knowing what to say or do during the proceeding. People see such a lawyer as a quack who does not know his duty, but in a real sense, such a lawyer at that moment was under spiritual attacks, which may have come from the opponent. Sometimes, lawyers forget to appear in court. All these are spiritual attacks.’’
He further revealed that sometimes, clients from the opposition can go the extra mile to eliminate a lawyer, thinking that once the lawyer in charge of a case is gone, the matter will close, but in reality, it is not so, because other lawyers are readily available to carry on the case.
Ogbuobodo affirmed that spirituality truly exists, but he fears nothing in the process of discharging his legal obligations. He further said, ‘’spiritual protection is a general consent, in the sense that you pray to your God. Prayer means spiritual protection, and it is not restricted to Christians or Muslims alone.
He urged legal practitioners to uphold the pride of the profession, as it remains the last hope of the common man. He appealed to lawyers to desist from engaging in dubious practices in the name of grabbing money. He urged them to follow decent ways in pursuit of material wealth. He said, if the lawyers want the legal profession to be respected, they must first respect themselves.
But not every lawyer gives spirituality a chance, especially in dictating their performance. The Convener of Vanguard for the Independence of the Judiciary, Douglas Ogbankwa, said, “The truth is that cases are won and lost in chambers and decided in court based on strategy, proper presentation of facts, expertise of lawyers and the authenticity of your documents.
“There exists an appreciable level of intellectual warfare in the winning and losing of cases. Lawyers as ministers in the temple of justice try to use the law to the advantage of their cases, following the provisions of the law on issues.
“The concept of spiritual attacks is a myth. Lawyers do not reckon with such a belief. Lawyers are humans, just like journalists. I have not experienced any such manipulations or attacks in my professional engagements. I see everything as professional, and I attend to any such issues professionally,” he said.
Edna Ray-Eboigbe of Edna E Ray-Eboigbe & Co, (Mercy Chambers), Benin City, in her contribution said, “Yes, I have had attacks like that. I did a matter some time ago in Okada, when the other party came with a native doctor. I was not bothered because I am a Christian and I believe in the efficacy of the power of Christ in me.
‘’On the issue of hostility, I get that very often, especially being a female lawyer. Some men feel that women should not make advancements, and when the reverse is the case, they use derogatory terms.
‘’Like I said, I have been a target, and have heard first-hand stories from my colleagues who were also on the receiving ends of such attacks. On the issue of spiritual protection, it is mandatory for me. I know the spiritual controls the physical, so preparing and fortifying myself spiritually is key to achieving success as a lawyer.
‘’You pray, trusting the God you believe in that He can deliver and give you victory all around. And I can confidently say that my God never fails. He always gives me victory. ‘’I was physically assaulted by some community thugs at a reconciliatory meeting, but I handled them and dragged them within the confines of the law, and they did not just tender an apology to the NBA; they also paid heavily for such an attack.
