Witchcraft accusations in Tiv communities of Benue State remain one of the most brutal, state-tolerated forms of communal aggression against elderly citizens in contemporary Nigeria. This study investigates the persistence and transformation of witchcraft accusations in Tiv death rituals, demonstrating a resilient cultural practice that continues to violate human rights despite Christianization, legal reforms, and digital modernity. Using a mixed-method approach combining doctrinal-legal analysis, 28 ethnographic sources, institutional reports, seven purposively sampled case studies (2020–2024), 20 semi-structured key informant interviews with elders, oracle consultants, women leaders, and community members, and two focus group discussions (n=24).

Qualitative data were thematically analyzed using NVivo 14; quantitative indicators triangulated with Nigeria Watch; spatial clustering confirmed via Quantum Geographic Information System (Moran’s I = 0.67, p<0.001). Findings expose a devastating syndemic: a significant number of accused elders suffer total economic ruin through sanctions that openly defy Nigerian law; some endure brutal public stripping with kaolin smeared on genitals, and viral WhatsApp humiliation; survivors suffer crippling psychological trauma, self-blame, divine punishment scripts (33%), hopelessness (26%), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (65%), suicide ideation (14%). Despite the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (2015) and Criminal Code §210, not a single prosecution has occurred a glaring state failure.

The study concludes that witchcraft accusations among the Tiv persist as a form of prolonged harm against elders, reflecting gaps in state enforcement and protection. The study recommends that Elder Protection Cohorts with safe houses be established urgently, that the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act be domesticated immediately along with an oracle regulation law, and that a five-year Tiv-language campaign be launched to dismantle this lethal mythology.