AWKA — The Governor of Anambra State, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, has granted a pardon to the popular native doctor Chidozie Nwanyi, widely known as Akwa Okuko Tiwara Aki, under the prerogative of mercy.
The pardon, announced on Friday, 18 September 2026, comes after the self-acclaimed native doctor had served part of an eleven-month sentence at the Amawbia Correctional Centre in Awka South Local Government Area.
Akwa Okuko was among eight native doctors arrested last year over their alleged involvement in the promotion of money rituals, quick wealth schemes and the use of human parts for ritual purposes.
Earlier this year, during court proceedings, he entered into a plea bargain with the state government. He was subsequently offered a lighter sentence of 11 months, alongside the condition that he renounces his fetish practice.
As part of the agreement, the government appointed him Ambassador for Youth Reformation — a role he accepted before beginning his prison term.
Disclosing the development in Awka on Friday evening, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Youth Reformation, Dr Nelson Omenugha, said the governor had visited the correctional centre in the discharge of his duties, where he announced the pardon.
He said: “Thank you, Mr Governor, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, CFR, for graciously extending your hand of mercy to Chidozie Nwangwu (Akwa Okuko Tiwara Aki) and giving him a new responsibility as Ambassador for Youth Reformation.
“This is the heart of Youth Reformation: not just punishment, but correction, restoration, a new purpose and A New Onye Anambra.”
The pardon brings to an end the native doctor’s custodial sentence, with expectations that he will now fully assume his new role in the state’s youth reformation drive.
