*jona:

Trial begins for alleged killer of ‘witches’
By Iniobong Ekponta Published Today News Rating: Unrated

•[b]Bishop Williams, his brother and the alleged ‘witches’ photo: Inibong Ekponta A suspect arrested in connection with the Akwa Ibom child-witch saga, is expected to go on trial today at the Uyo High Court.

The Commissioner for Justice, Chief Victor Iyanam, has presented a compendium of what constitutes children’s rights and punishment to the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Youths Development, Mrs. Eunice Thomas.

Speaking to The Nation in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, Iyanam said the principal suspect, Bishop Sunday Okon Williams, a suspected fake spiritualist alleged to have killed no fewer than 110 children in the process of exorcising the spirit of witchcraft from them, would go on trial today.

Williams, popularly called Ulup Aya, which translates into "There is nothing under the sun that I cannot do" in the native Mbo dialect, was arrested November 29, last year in Orukim Village in Mbo Local Government Area of the State.

Williams, who owns a Spiritual Healing Home in Ibaka village, was arrested with his brother and two children, whom he claimed were brought for spiritual cleansing by their mother.

His arrest followed the interview he granted the international wire services- United Kingdom-based Channel 4 on November 12, last year in which he claimed to have killed 110 children possessed by the spirit of witchcraft.

But the suspect, who was paraded before reporters at State Police Command Headquarters at the Ikot Akpanabia in December, denied the allegation.

He said:

"I did not say in the interview that I killed 110 children. What I said was that I only removed the spirit of witchcraft in them".

Ulup Aya, who confessed to being a former-convict of a similar crime, charges between N.2million and N.4million; depending on the gravity of the problem.

Last year, Akwa Ibom State became a centre of international odium when the interview was aired, forcing outrage from Akwa Ibomites in Nigeria and the Diaspora.

The British Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO)- Stepping Stone International–working in collaboration with the Child Rights Advocacy Centre in Eket, where the stigmatised children are kept for rehabilitation, led 150 suspected child witches in a mass protest to Governor Godswill Akpabio at the Government House, Uyo.

Armed with a 400-page petition, the leader of the NGO, Mr. Garry Foxcroft, said: "A situation where children are burnt to death, buried alive, matcheted to death or made to rot away in the evil forest is unacceptable in the 21st century".

Foxcroft, who also led the children to the House of Assembly, appealed to Akpabio to facilitate the domestication of the Child Rights Act in the statutes book.

Akpabio swung into action, urging the commissioners of Information, Aniekan Umana; Health, Luisa Ukpe and Women Affairs, Eunice Thomas, to ensure rehabilitation of the children, who are now camped at CRARN centre in Eket.

Besides, he facilitated the passage of the Child Rights Bill, which he has signed into law and empowered law enforcement agencies to clampdown on fake pastors, spiritualists and healing homes.

To safeguard the rights of children, Akwa Ibomites in the diaspora- Mboho Ndito Akwa Ibom in Ireland and United Kingdom– is organising the first children conference in London on May 30. [/b]

http://thenationonlineng.net/web/articles/3497/1/Trial-begins-for-alleged-killer-of-witches/Page1.html

Phemzy:

I fear for them

redsun:

I hope they lock up the culprits in metal institutions indefinitely,prolific child molesters and abusers.

jamece you people sabi fly.

jamace:


is jamace one of those Akwa ibom winches ? one of those pastors on youtube claimed about two million winches in Akwa ibom,the video is on youtube,type African winches akwa ibom will come up.

Badriyyah:

Finally!!! Hope he gets what he deserves!!!