David-Chyddy Eleke digs into the past, mystery, rise and eventual fall of Mr. Chidozie Nwangwu, who was dubbed Anambra’s billionaire native doctor, otherwise called Akwa Okuko Tiwara Aki.
At the very height of his fame, Anambra’s billionaire native doctor, Mr. Chidozie Nwangwu, was highly feared, and believed to have supernatural powers that not only created wealth but also offered protection. Those who believed in him would tell you there was nothing impossible with him. His name, Akwa Okuko Tiwara Aki meant the chicken egg that breaks palm kernel.
Last week, the mystery behind this 29-year-old native doctor was finally broken as court pronounced jail term on him, with specific orders for his shrine to be demolished and for him to renounce whatever power existed in his shrine and his other charms.
The terms were agreeable to him as he had earlier pleaded guilty and entered a plea bargain with the state government.
The Anambra State High Court presided over by Justice Jude Obiorah was packed full with lawyers, journalists, friends, relatives, and sympathisers of Nwangwu as court made to commence reading the judgement in his case.
The native doctor was among the three who were arrested in February 2025 by operatives of the Agunechemba Security outfit, which had just been launched then.
Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, Anambra State Governor, had, at about the same time, launched the Anambra Homeland Security Law, which provided for the creation of Homeland Security, which the governor created under the name Agunechemba, effectively displacing the Anambra Vigilante Group (AVG).
Beyond this, Soludo also created a security operation code-named Operation Udogachi, which comprised operatives of all security agencies in the state.
This was necessary then because of the heightened activities of separatist agitators, which was causing insecurity in the state.
Beyond this, the activities of native doctors was also very rife as they advertised their powers on social media, claiming they could prepare anyone against gunshots and also propel people to immense wealth.
Akwa Okuko was one of those deeply involved in the trade. Part of the homeland security law banned practice of ritual money and other such powers, necessitating the arrest of Akwa Okuko, who was also charged for aiding kidnappers.
Other native doctors arrested were Mr. Onyebuchi Okocha alias Onye Eze Jesus and Ekene Igbonekwu alias Eke Hit. All three had for a year been undergoing trial until last week when Akwa Okuko was sentenced.
The trial judge, Justice Jude Obiorah in the judgement in suit no. A/40C/2025, A/41C/2025 and A/42C/2025 said: “Under the Anambra Homeland law, anyone who claims to possess powers to heal, or make one rich through certain magical means like okeite is liable to two years imprisonment. Any person in the state who practices okeite or ezenwanyi is liable to six years in prison.”
Out of the eight count charge against the native doctor, he convicted him on counts three, four, five, six, seven and eight to two years in prison each, declaring that they will run concurrently. Also on counts one, five and eight, Justice Obiorah fined the accused for N20 million each.
He said: “The total fine sums up to N60million, but because of the remorse shown by the accused, the fine is now waived as such money in such circumstance is not needed by the state. He has spent 13 months in detention already, same will be computed into his sentence, so he will serve the 11 months of his sentence in Awka Correctional Centre, as against plea by his counsel for him to serve in Agunechemba facility. This is because the Agunechemba facility does not have correctional facilities.”
The court however made orders that must be adhered to as atonement for his sins. The judge said: “The shrine of the defendant in Oba shall be destroyed, he shall from the date of release no longer practice okeite and must make public statement denouncing it. The statement shall be recorded in video. He will be made ambassador of youth reorientation and must make public statement cautioning youths against seeking wealth through supernatural means.”
The judgment marked the beginning of the end of Akwa Okuko. On same Friday, just hours after the judgment, operatives of Agunechemba Security Outfit were already at the home of the native doctor, where they ransacked his shrine, dismantling his gods and setting everything on fire. The items burnt included hundreds of earthenware, attached with people’s names, believed to be owners of the charms. This was not the end, as the very next day witnessed the arrival of a bulldozer that leveled what used to be a pilgrimage centre for wealth seeking young men and women.
At the height of his fame, 29 years Nwangwu who claimed to have started his work as a native doctor at 12 had under his control a large herd of young people, both online and physically.
His presence at public functions were greeted with large followership, as he usually arrived in long convoy of cars, populated by fleets of expensive automobiles.
His knack for spraying naira notes at public functions was a major attraction. At most times, his method of spraying money was by throwing bales of naira notes at celebrants. For youths who watched these public displays, there was no way they could be convinced otherwise that his claims of having charms known as Okeite which could generate endless wealth were not true.
To them, his designers dresses, expensive cars, gold jewelries and many others were proof of the potency of his charms. It was also believed that kidnappers and drug lords came to him for charms that could make them resist gunshots or beat security checks at terminals while carrying hard drugs.
True to this, in July 2023, when in the thick of a public function in his hotel, gunmen arrived and gunned down about three of his security men, while whisking him away, his followers simply laughed, believing he would return unharmed.
He had however returned unharmed, but rumours had it that he paid dearly for his freedom.
Speaking about his return in one of his many videos, the native doctor had boasted that there were two things that were capable of saving a man. Charms and money. He boasted that he had both.
His hotel, Triple P Hotel and Suite, a posh destination located in Oba, Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State, is a beehive of activities during his heydays. It is a five-floor edifice with a rooftop drinking bar and a basement clubhouse, fitted with an expansive swimming pool, which also hosts a poolside bar where weekend events are held regularly.
Those who know his operations say he had several kinds of charms with price tags for clients who wanted them. For example, he had charms like Okeite, Ibobo, Awele and many others. All these were variants of charms that produced wealth. As different as there were, so were their prices and the ingredients for making them. Those who claim to know describe Okeite as the most expensive, just as it is a fast money spinner. It was also said to be more expensive and could cost as much as N5million for Akwa Okuko to prepare it for a client.
There are, however, no records of the potency of such charms, especially as there exist evidence of some of his clients returning to him for a refund, insisting the charms never worked. On one occasion in 2022 or thereabout, a video surfaced of a young boy being flogged in his shrine for daring to constitute himself into a nuisance, while demanding for a refund, over the ineffectiveness of a charm he made for him. Akwa Okuko had reportedly ordered his boys to tie him up and flog him, while videotaping him, but when his actions caused uproar in on the internet, he summoned the boy and gave him back his money, claiming that it wasn’t a refund, rather a way to rehabilitate the young man, who he said was in dire straits.
On Friday, as he sat in the dock listening to his judgement with all the orders of the court attached to the judgment, it was obvious to him that he would never return to the socialite, revered witch doctor and celebrated billionaire that he used to be. At least, not with the order for him to renounce ritual practices and also be appointed ambassador of youth reorientation, with a charge to occasionally make recorded videos educating youths on the powerlessness of charms.
Currently, the native doctor is in the Correctional Centre, Amawbia, where he will spend the remaining 11 months of his jail term. This follows the refusal of the judge to entertain a plea for him to be remanded at the facility of Agunechemba Security Outfit, where he had been for 13 months.
Sources told THISDAY that his plea to remain in the facility was because of the freedom he enjoyed there, but Justice Obiorah insisted that the detention center does not have correctional facilities that can help him be a changed man after his jail term, which is the real essence of his being jailed.
Soludo had since 2025 championed what he called a moral rebirth for Anambra, targeting mostly native doctors, kidnappers, and others who preach wealth without means. Soludo insisted that wealth is made gradually and not just suddenly. His homeland security law banned the use of public streams for sacrifices and open display of shrines. He insists that he is not shutting down traditional African religion, but targeting those using it to deceive young people.
With one native doctor down already, the other two still in detention may already have guessed their own fate. The once worshipped Akwa Okuko Tiwara Aki, whose snap of the finger was an order to a large cache of boys, is today shrineless, and also renounced his practices. He has also become a butt of jokes as social media users have created memes of him, depicting him as a pastor, insinuating that now that his ritual practices have crashed, he may resort to opening a church when he returns from prison in January 2027. A friend of the native doctor known as Igwe Credo revealed that he had the opportunity to meet with the native doctor days before he was jailed, and he revealed he was ready to be a changed person and to abide by the then coming court judgment.
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