WUNRN
Nigeria
'Child-Witches' Seek Refuge
Mary is a
pretty five-year-old girl with big brown eyes and a father who kicked her out
onto the streets in one of the most dangerous parts of the world. Her crime:
the local priest had denounced her as a witch and blamed her "evil
powers" for causing her mother's death.
By David Harrison
09 Nov 2008
Photo: Mags Gavan, Redrebel Films
Ostracised, vulnerable and
frightened, she wandered the streets in south-eastern
Mary was found by a British
charity worker and today lives at a refuge in Akwa Ibom province with 150 other
children who have been branded witches, blamed for all their family's woes, and
abandoned. Before being pushed out of their homes many were beaten or slashed
with knives, thrown onto fires, or had acid poured over them as a punishment or
in an attempt to make them "confess" to being possessed. In one
horrific case, a young girl called Uma had a three-inch nail driven into her
skull.
Yet Mary and the others at the
shelter are the lucky ones for they, at least, are alive. Many of those branded
"child-witches" are murdered - hacked to death with machetes,
poisoned, drowned, or buried alive in an attempt to drive Satan out of their
soul.
The devil's children are
"identified" by powerful religious leaders at extremist churches
where Christianity and traditional beliefs have combined to produce a
deep-rooted belief in, and fear of, witchcraft. The priests spread the message
that child-witches bring destruction, disease and death to their families. And
they say that, once possessed, children can cast spells and contaminate others.
The religious leaders offer help
to the families whose children are named as witches, but at a price. The
churches run exorcism, or "deliverance", evenings where the pastors
attempt to drive out the evil spirits. Only they have the power to cleanse the
child of evil spirits, they say. The exorcism costs the families up to a year's
income.
During the
"deliverance" ceremonies, the children are shaken violently, dragged
around the room and have potions poured into their eyes. The children look
terrified. The parents look on, praying that the child will be cleansed. If the
ritual fails, they know their children will have to be sent away, or killed.
Many are held in churches, often on chains, and deprived of food until they
"confess" to being a witch.
The ceremonies are highly
lucrative for the spiritual leaders many of whom enjoy a lifestyle of large
homes, expensive cars and designer clothes.
Ten years ago there were few
cases of children stigmatised by witchcraft. But since then the numbers have
grown at an alarming rate and have reached an estimated 15,000 in Akwa Ibom
state alone.
Some Nigerians blame the increase
on one of the country's wealthiest and most influential evangelical preachers.
Helen Ukpabio, a self-styled prophetess of the 150-branch
Mrs Ukpabio, a mother of three,
also wrote a popular book which tells parents how to identify a witch. For
children under two years old, she says, the key signs of a servant of Satan are
crying and screaming in the night, high fever and worsening health - symptoms
that can be found among many children in an impoverished region with poor
health care.
The preacher says that her work
is true to the Bible and is a means of spreading God's word. "Witchcraft
is a problem all over
One British charity worker is
fighting to help the children stigmatised as witches. Gary Foxcroft, 29,
programme director for the
"Any Christian would look at
the situation that is going on here and just be absolutely outraged that they
were using the teachings of Jesus Christ to exploit and abuse innocent
children," says Mr Foxcroft whose expose of what he describes as "an
absolute scandal" will be screened in a Channel 4 documentary on
Wednesday.
The Niger Delta is an oil-rich
region but the wealth does not reach the people who live there. The locals
blame their hardship on the Devil but international analysts point to the oil
industry's large-scale contamination of air, land and sea.
In the documentary, the charity worker
visits one of the pastors, a man who calls himself "the Bishop" and
who claims to be able to drive evil spirits out of "possessed"
children. At his church in Ibaka, the Bishop pours a homemade substance called
African mercury, a potion of pure alcohol and his own blood, into the eyes of a
young boy lying on a table. "I want this poison destroyer to destroy the
witch right now, in Jesus' name," he says.
The priest charges £170 - in a
country where millions of people are forced to live on less than £1 a day - for
"treating" a child every night for two weeks, and holds them captive
until the bill is paid.
He has recently refined his
techniques for dealing with child witches. "I killed up to 110 people who
were identified as being a witch," he says. He claims there are 2.3million
"witches and wizards" in Akwa Ibom province alone.
The children's shelter was
started five years ago when Sam Itauma, a Nigerian, opened his house to four
youngsters accused of witchcraft. Today, he and his five staff are caring for
150 youngsters. "Every day, five or six children are branded as
witches," he says "Once a child has been stigmatised as a witch, it
is very difficult for someone to accept that child back. If they go out from
this community... there is a lot of attacks, assault and abuses on the
children." Children often arrive at the shelter with severe wounds, but
few clinics or hospitals will treat a child believed to be a witch.
"Christianity in the Niger
Delta is seriously questionable, putting a traditional religion together with
Christian religion - and it makes nonsense out of it," he says. "If
you are not rich and don't have anything to eat, you look to blame someone. And
if you don't get anything, you blame it on the witches."
Christians have been in
At the refuge, a baby girl called
Utibe and her five-year-old sister, Utitofong, are dumped at the gate by their
mother because a "prophet" told her that Utitofong was a witch and
had passed the spell to her sister. The mother, who spent four months' salary
on an unsuccessful exorcism, left them at the centre because she feared they
would be killed. The police are called but locals offer them no help.
Mr Itauma goes to the village to
try and convince the locals to accept the daughters' return, but the older girl
is threatened by a man with a machete. "Get away from our food - I'll kill
you," he shouts. Utibe is allowed to stay, but the older girl has to go
back to the refuge.
At the end of the film, Mr
Foxcroft and all the "child-witches" stage a demonstration at the
Governor's residence in the state capital, Uyo, and urge him to adopt the Child
Rights Act." After four hours the Governor comes out and says the Act will
be adopted. It has since been adopted, but so far not a single pastor has been
convicted of any offence. And the rescue centre still takes in up to 10
children a week.
Mr Foxcroft took Mary back to her
village where he was told that her father left a year ago to find work in
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