The head of a Nigerian government agency has been charged with stealing money to hire a witchdoctor or "juju" sorcerer to bring him success

Sam Edem, chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission, is accused of taking $6.8m (£3.4m) of state money. He has been charged with theft and criminal conspiracy by a court who heard he spent millions on black magic. Police allege in one ritual he burned millions of naira and rubbed the ash on his body. Edem denies the charges. The case came to the attention of the police when Mr Edem reported he had been the victim of a spell forcing him to hand over millions of naira. But suspicions were raised as to where he got the money from. "We believe that this is money from the Nigerian government, money that should have been used to develop the Niger Delta," Police Commissioner Ali Amodu said.