Where the People and Friends of Africa Mingle

Children Murdered, Battered, Abandoned…Because they are Witches?

8 comments

Posted by: Misi on December 15, 2007 Under: Africa, Discussion Lounge, Feature, Nigeria, Opinion



kid-witches.jpg
Twin boys Itohowo and Kufre stand surrounded by angry villagers who believe they are bringing evil to their lives, Photograph: Robin Hammond/The Observer/Guardian

UK Guardian reports:

In an exclusive report from the Niger Delta, in the deep south of west Africa, Tracy McVeigh hears the extraordinary stories of children who have been ostracised by their families and communities…because they believe they are witches.

In a world where many are desperately in search of children, there is a community ostracizing and abandoning their kids solely because some people under the umbrella of religion claim they are witches. My heart bleeds for these children and right in the middle of this child abuse and violent criminal acts are some evangelical pastors…

The act of seeing children as being demonic has historical underpinnings. In the 19th Century, Mary Slessor, a Christian missionary living in south-eastern Nigeria not only introduced Christianity to the locals, but also “adopted a number of children including twins which were considered cursed and often sacrificed“. It is baffling now how that same religion is being used as a medium to perpetrate violence against children. Strange!

In cases of abuse, when the physical bruises have long healed, the emotional trauma persists, often forever. Scientific evidence ganered from the ACE Study done in the United States indicates that children exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACE)- which are of even lesser severity than those mentioned here - end up developing chronic diseases later in life.

The Ace study “found a strong graded relationship between the breadth of exposure to abuse or household dysfunction during childhood and multiple risk factors for several of the leading causes of death in adults”.

Who is to blame? How can the authorities - local and federal, put an end to this appalling practice? Will the perps ever be sanctioned? How will these kids be integrated back into the society?

Watch the video: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/video/2007/dec/09/video

See the pictures: http://www.guardian.co.uk/observer/gallery/2007/dec/09/witches?lightbox=1

Read the story in full: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2224553,00.html

These posts may have related contents:

Site Tags: , , , , ,

8 comment(s)

  1. Omotaylor | Dec 15, 2007 | Reply

    Hmm Misi these is deep and a continuous worry. The questions are also deep and so hard to answer for do we blame these peoples’s cultural/religious backgrounds which makes their ignorance seem genuine to them? Do we blame lack of education and a failure to take advantage of Mary Slessor’s work and follow it up? How can people do this to innocent young children? Who are the real devils/witches - the accusers I believe. Yes the government can do something for they should criminalise such activities and make examples of perpetrators of such evil acts. The kids of course would have been traumatised beyond beleif (i.e. those that survived), and should be given a new start in govermental institutions set up for this purpose. Knowing what i know about the Nigerian/African setting no one would offer to help privately for the children would be stigmatised. This was where the missionary have been very helpful. Being a Christian I should be recommending that churches assist, but sorry, too many churches are set up to exploit, make financial gains and make all the right noises without really helping. So I will appeal to churches especially those making millions to come to the rescue of these children and also set up charity establishments to reintegrate these children. One way the government can help further is fund private establishment who want to help but these would need proper monitoring so that funds are not diverted to personal pockets. In the meantime my heart really goes out to these children and I feel pity ( “o ma se” type) for their ignorant families.

  2. Pamela Stitch | Dec 16, 2007 | Reply

    Unfortunately, religion is used for so much wickedness and it goes beyond that region. I have heard stories in which people from some white garment churches had beaten some young children because they were believed to be witches and this was when I was in Lagos and these people were not from the Niger, Delta.

    But this report is not really surprising, we all know that religion pervades everything in Africa. Moreover, religion comes with a lot of power. I think people should really think about what they accept as the truth from religious people.

  3. Pamela | Dec 16, 2007 | Reply

    This is simply sad…..very, very…..

  4. wole | Dec 16, 2007 | Reply

    Sad indeed, this is one unending vicious cycle induced by poverty. it is criminal for a parent or guardian to categorise innocent children as witches in order to justify their frustrations. The churches, like a reader already identified, are mostly preoccupied competing for worldy things, buying acres of land home and abroad, buying state of the art faciities for “urban evangelism” while neglecting the very people in rural areas that most needs spiritual guidiance and counselling as if salvation belongs only to the urban residents. Our government is completely at sea in this matter, they should set up NGO’S or house committees (of the legislative arm)to look into these things hoping to finding a lasting solution. i hope i did not sound like a politician.

  5. chioma | Dec 17, 2007 | Reply

    Very sad when crooks begin to prey on children and fears of poor people in God’s name! The problem is that back home and generally in africa, we put so much faith in pastors that we do not stop to question teh spirit in them. It is obvious that the children will become instant preys, unlike adults they won’t question what the pastor has said or attack the pastor to clear their name for them in public. It is just so sad that fear can lead so many parents to do these abominable things to their kids. This is why the bible says we should be mindfull of those call call God lord cos not all of them are saved! May God fight for these children and lets all keep them and teh good samaritan helping them in prayers.

  6. Jomo | Dec 17, 2007 | Reply

    This is a very tragic story! It is a terrible and tragic commentary on our society that in this new century, these barbaric acts are still being committed all in the name of ‘religion’. This reminds me of those stories in the years following independence of twins being killed because they were considered evil; I never imagined that this would still be a reality today in parts of Nigeria, 40+ years later! Those pastors are the real witches, as another post mentioned. How can one have that much power and influence over what people believe and think and do - and not use that power in a positive way? It is wrong to put so much faith in another man that we do not stop to question their directives, pastor or no pastor.

  7. Sonie | Dec 18, 2007 | Reply

    My heart bleeds for my generation. Everything we are going through today is a spin off from our fathers that could not stand up against such injustice. I have lived to experience the inhumanity of man to man. It all still boils down to our leaders, if they don’t support this criminal acts, they would have done something to curb it.
    The truth is that the worlds best leaders are never allowed access to the throne. God help us.

  8. Kelli Stowe | Feb 29, 2008 | Reply

    There is a way you can help the children if you
    would like. I have been researching this for a while and have created a blog with information and three petitions that can be signed protesting against the treatment of the children and the so called pastors that are extorting the parents of the children. Please consider signing them for the children.

    Children of Nigeria

    http://childwitches.blogspot.com/

    Thank you for posting this, the more the word
    about this gets out the better.

    Thank you,
    Kelli

Post a comment