[b]South-South Report
Akwa Ibom: Still tackling the problems of child witch
From JOE EFFIONG, Uyo
Tuesday, May 24, 2011


• Some of the abandoned kids in Eket
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The year 2008 will ever remain evergreen in the minds of religious and political leaders of Akwa Ibom State. It was the year one self-styled pastor Bishop Sunday William declared the entire state a coven of witches with an estimated 2.3 million witches and wizards, most of them children William even added a serious dimension to the allegation; that he has so far killed 110 of such child witches, a fit he brandished with a glee to international broadcast media. Of course he said he charged fee, sometime as much as N400,000.00 to help parents kill their child witches.

Two million, three hundred witches in state of less then 4 million people? Everyone started looking at each other. Nobody trusted anybody again. Your wife, husband, child, father, mother, sibling, boyfriend, girlfriend, fiancée, pastor, boss, in fact, everybody was a suspect.

It was not long after Evangelist Helen Ukpabio had declared that more than 900 witches had come out to confess in her Liberty Gospel Church in Uyo; and that they had been given time to be coming to church to be totally delivered.
While some clergymen, such as Apostle John Okoriko of the Solid Rock Kingdom Church, Uyo, screamed that there were witches in Uyo; or if at all they existed, it would only one since in the biblical era, there used to be only one witch in a town, like the Witch of En-dor, others silently continued to regard everyone with suspicion.
The suspicion might even have crept into government circles as the executive and legislative arms were finally jolted to dust the nearly forgotten Child Right Act, and hurriedly passed it into law on December 5, 2008.

Before the bill was passed into law, Akpabio had vehemently refuted Bishop William’s 2.3 million witches claim for the state. He had also averred that some of the children ha confessed to being witches and wizard when they were tortured by their parents and church leaders.
“If you put a nail on my head and ask me to agree that I am a wizard, I would do that to save myself from torture. That is how these children are tortured to accept that they are witches and their parents would gladly throw them out of the house.

“We will not only destroy such churches, but also get their pastors prosecuted and jailed to set example for others because some churches are deceiving people.”
The governor who spoke at a ceremony organized by Inoyo Toro Foundation in honour of science, mathematics and English language teachers in Uyo, said he had instructed the state’s attorney general to prepare legal arsenals to deal with such false prophets and their churches.

Such legal arsenals appeared to have been the Child Rights Act, which was supposed to bury stigmatization of children as witches forever in the state. In fact, it was made retroactive to snare people like Bishop William who had committed the alleged offence before the bill was passed into law. That is why is still standing trial till date “for killing 110 witches”, though he later moderated his claims to mean that he only killed the spirit of witchcraft in the kids in order to free the victims. The state was no longer interested moderated version.

At the presentation of the new law to the public, the governor had said by the definition of the law, every person under the age of 16 years is classified as a child and shall be entitled to right considered inalienable rights such as their parents’ responsibility to ensure that they benefit from free education up to secondary school level else such parent shall on conviction be liable to N5000 fine or two months imprisonment or both.
The law prohibits child labour which includes buying, selling, hiring, begging for alms, prostitution, domestic or sexual labour, slave or practices similar to slavery such as trafficking and compulsory labour, et cetera.

“The law prohibits sexual intercourse with children and classifies same as rape and also harmful publication of materials like books, magazines, film, pictures, video and audio tape which contains harmful information and to which children could have access.
“The law makes it punishable with an imprisonment of 10 years to 15 years without any option of fine for a child to be accused of witchcraft.

“For the purpose of speedy trial, the bill establishes a family court for their purpose of hearing and determining matters related to
children,” Akpabio explained while appealing for cooperation of all to make the law an effective protection for the children, “and a shelter for our posterity.”
All this happened in 2008; but checks by The Sun reveal that no one has so far been convicted by the law; rather it seems the number of children stigmatized and sent out of the homes by parents in collaboration with religious leaders are in the increase.
The situation is so bad that state government recently set up a Witchcraft Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice Joseph Abraham to advise it on the child witch syndrome and other incidences of child abuse.

As at last months, more than 60 people, some pastors, had appeared before the panel. One of those summoned was Rev. Moses Ekereobong, a presbyter of the Methodist Church, who appeared on the allegation of his involvement in the stigmatization of a child.
But in his defence, Ekereobong said he was innocent. “I was invited by the Police but I knew nothing about the said stigmatisation about brutalisation of a child by one of my members, when I got to the station, I saw the child and the wounds inflicted on her were still fresh.

“So I asked the father who inflicted the wounds on the chills and who called her a witch because in the Methodist Church of Nigeria, it is not our practice but the man did not give me a reasonable answer up till now, we all frowned at the matter because against our policy” the Pastor said.
The stigmatization continues even with law in place and the commission of inquiry in session. Only last week, 21 children of ages between seven and 20 were found taking refuge in the moribund Qua River Hotel, Eket and in an abandoned truck by Eket Sports Stadium.

A tatement issued by the apparently embarrassed state government on the issue, through the office of the commissioner for information, Mr Aniekan Umanah said; “An inventory of all the children has been taken by the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, with a view to immediate evacuation of the said children.
A temporary facility has been put in place by the government for the accommodation of the children while a permanent facility is underway. Only one of the children age 17 was discovered to be an expectant mother and was immediately taken away by the government for prompt medical care.

“Government wishes to reiterate that the safety and well being of all Akwa Ibom children is sacrosanct and as such, government will not fold its hands and watch few misguided elements who take pleasure in trampling upon the rights and privileges of Akwa Ibom Children as enshrined in the Child Right and Protection Act, 2008.
“We again strongly warn parents, guardians and whoever person that engage in the habit of sharp practices against children, especially labeling the children as witches, to desist forthwith or risk incurring the full wrath of the law.
“Government is not leaving any stone unturned in ensuring that all those culpable in the neglect and abuse of the children are brought to book in line with the provision of the Child Rights and Protection Law.The Akwa Ibom State government hereby reiterates its determination to do everything in its power to ensure the protection of children, and indeed the safety and wellbeing of all residents in the state.”

The commissioner for women affairs and social welfare, Mrs Eunice Thomas, who personally supervised the evacuation the children, said the state government had concluded plans to rehabilitate them. She said information about the condition of the children did not get to the government early and promised to work expediently to integrate them with the society.

Her ministry has been involved in the rehabilitation and integration of other children who were abandoned by their families for several reasons; the new set of children are currently camped temporarily at the Women Development Centre pending when government will make permanent provision.
As part of the rehabilitation, Thomas said the children would be given immediate medical attention; even as plans to enroll them in schools were being made.
The 17-year old Miss Jane Bassey who confessed that she was four months pregnant, said she was ostracized because of the pregnancy.
Some of the children said they were chased out by their parents and relatives who alleged that they were witches, while some of them said they were forced out on allegations of pilfering and truancy.

Step mothers were fingered as the masterminds of most of the ugly situations. Master Godswill Felix Okon said he was about taking his Common Entrance Examination when her aunt took her to a church where the pastor alleged that he was a witch, culminating in his being sent out of the house by his aunt.
Another girl, Blessing Effiong also said she recently gave birth to a baby that was immediately taken from her by some members of the public.
For now, the stigmatization appears to be concentrating more in Eket, Oron and other riverine areas of the state, though not limited to those areas. Thomas once said her ministry spends over two million naira feeding abandoned children houses in different locations in the state. With the addition of 21 more, she would need more. And there is no guarantee that another set would not be discovered tomorrow.

If with all the threat of the law; luxury of free education, possible economic growth due to current regime acclaimed good governance and the proclamation the ever-increasing worship centres that God is in control, witches and wizards appear to be in the increase, especially among children, then was Bishop William really wrong that 2.3 people in state are witches and wizards? But if he was right, who then is not a witch? What right has a witch parent to send their infant or apprentice witch child out of the house.
But Apostle Okoriko still insists: “There are no witches in Akwa Ibom. Maybe we have only one in Uyo; one in Eket, One in Ikot Ekpene, one in Oron, One in Ikot Abasi and so on. You can’t in a town.” What a relief. Maybe! [/b]

I am wallowing in pity for these kids but still LMAO

Why is Ayo Oritsejafor silent?!!!

texazzpete:

Why is Ayo Oritsejafor silent?!!!

texazzpete:

Why is Ayo Oritsejafor silent?!!!

You guys want to bring ayo into all this now,when all these things were playing out,the man condemned it,gave press conferences and interviews dissociating pfn with all these carnage.
Why not ask the state govt who are responible for these kids and supposedly took the matter to court,

OP

You have come again, eh? You are welcome from reincarnation. In your former lives, your ids were *jona, *comfort and others.

You can't escape me no matter how many reincarnations you undergo because the leopard can never change the spots on its skin.


You are welcome from another reincarnation. When are you going to die again?