Igwe was influenced to become a humanist activist through the writings of
Paul Kurtz, which he read in magazines published by the
Center for Inquiry. Igwe is listed as a Junior Fellow for the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies, where his project is a case study of witchcraft accusation in northern
Ghana. In a fall 2000 article in the quarterly journal
Free Inquiry, Igwe enumerated different ways in which religious extremists in Nigeria have co-opted the local government and used it to enforce religious codes of law, hindering the upholding of human rights in those areas. Igwe wrote in 2004 that in his own country of Nigeria, contemporary belief in witchcraft leads to ritual killing and
human sacrifice, noting that women and children are more likely to be said to possess or practice "negative" witchcraft abilities, while men are more often depicted as possessing benign witchcraft abilities. In 2008, a BBC documentary, ''Saving Africa's Witch Children'', featured an appearance by Igwe, as one of the primary subjects was "witch hunter
Helen Ukpabio." The documentary detailed reported "terrible crimes committed against children accused of witchcraft," The film also follows the efforts of Sam Itauma, a human rights activist and founder of the
Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN), who offers shelter and protection to children who have been abused or abandoned, and Gary Foxcroft, who founded Stepping Stones Nigeria, a UK-registered charity. In his talk, Igwe brought attention to discrimination against the
Osu, a group of people perceived by some to be of lower class, who Igwe says "continue to suffer discrimination and indignity, particularly in the areas of marriage and family, right to own property and inheritance, access to land, political rights and representation, education, development, infrastructure, and distribution of basic amenities." According to the report, Igwe had been arrested three times since beginning work on the rape case, as a result of allegedly malicious petitions, According to the EHF, later in August 2010, Igwe's home and family were attacked when two unidentified men assaulted and blindfolded Igwe's father, causing "extensive injuries to his face and head", and resulting in the elder Igwe having to have his eye surgically removed. in an effort, according to
Sahara Reporters, by the state governor
Godswill Akpabio, to begin "clamping down on activists involved in the rescue of children accused of witchcraft." Igwe was later released without charge, according to Gary Foxcroft of Stepping Stones Nigeria, and "in good spirits". On 11 February 2014, Igwe was chosen as a laureate of the
International Academy of Humanism. In 2017, he was given the Distinguished Services to Humanism Award from the International Humanist and Ethical Union General Assembly. Upon receiving the award, Igwe dedicated it "to all humanists at risk around the globe". Igwe is an outspoken supporter of the
Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation which campaigns for democratic reformation of the United Nations. When discussing the matter, Igwe has argued that "the United Nations needs to be handed back to those to whom it actually belongs—the people of the world." Igwe continues to speak out against attacks on alleged witches in Malawi. According to him, recent cases of such attacks in December 2019 and January 2020 "...contained seeds of an effective advocacy against witch persecution in Malawi. First of all there is an urgent need for advocates for alleged witches throughout the country to become more visible and proactive." He proposes that, in addition to widespread education about the real causes of misfortune, "There should be heavy penalties including suspension and summary dismissal for the head of any village, or district where an alleged witch is attacked or killed."
Liberty Gospel Church Igwe's activism against witchcraft accusations has included lobbying for the enforcement of a law in Nigeria that prohibits accusing children of witchcraft, which has led to conflict with
Pentecostal group
Liberty Foundation Gospel Ministries and in particular Pastor
Helen Ukpabio, who has been criticized by Igwe and others, according to a
New York Times article, for her teachings "having contributed to the torture or abandonment of thousands of Nigerian children—including infants and toddlers—suspected of being witches and warlocks." As he was about to deliver his talk, members of the Liberty Gospel Church, more than 150 people, invaded the meeting and attacked Igwe, who was "beaten and robbed, relieved of his camera, money and mobile phone before managing to escape to a nearby police station to seek help." After the attack, the leader of Liberty Gospel Church, pastor Helen Ukpabio, sued the state government, as well as several critics, including Igwe, seeking 2 billion
naira (about US$13 million, 2010) and an "order of perpetual injunction," restraining her critics' speech from further criticizing her work. Ukpabio's application was later dismissed by Justice P.J. Nneke at the Federal High Court in Calabar. Responding to criticism by Igwe and other activists, Ukpabio told
The New York Times reporter Mark Oppenheimer that "her filmic depictions of possessed children, gathering by moonlight to devour human flesh" (as seen in her film
End of the Wicked) were not meant to be taken literally, and stated, according to Oppenheimer, that the
BBC documentary ''Saving Africa's Children'' "exaggerates or invents the problem of child abandonment." According to Oppenheimer, "Asked how she could be so sure, she said, 'because I am an African!' In Africa, she said, 'family ties are too strong to have a child on the street.'" ==Skepticism==