Four Nigerian men were charged with plucking out the eyes of a 13-year-old schoolboy for use in witchcraft, the state news agency reported today.
They face charges ranging from criminal conspiracy to grievous bodily harm and permanent disfigurement for the attack on the boy, who was taken to hospital in the north-eastern state of Bauchi.
Police suspect the attack was commissioned by one of the defendants to make a charm believed to make people invisible.
The case will be heard by an Islamic court in Bauchi on February 18, the News Agency of Nigeria said.
If found guilty, the defendants could have their own eyes removed under the Islamic sharia code, the agency added.
Bauchi is one of 12 predominantly Muslim states in northern Nigeria which adopted sharia law five years ago.