₦airaland Forum

Witches: FG expresses concern over UK child witch documentary

THE Federal Government on Monday expressed concern over a television documentary aired by a British Channel.
This was contained in a statement from the Nigeria High Commission in London and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.

The documentary showed children being tortured under a purported deliverance and exorcism service by some religious leaders in Akwa Ibom State.

The documentary, which was first aired across the UK on November 12 was entiled: ''Saving Africa’s Witch Children.” According to the statement, government is appalled that such despicable and vicious cultural and religious practices still subsist in some parts of Nigeria, in spite of government’s efforts at promoting the welfare of children through appropriate policies, programmes and legislations.

The statement said government would collaborate with relevant religious bodies to eliminate such evil practices in their mode of worship.

It noted that the country was multi-ethnic with varied religious and cultural practices and belief systems deeply rooted in the history and psyche of the people.

The statement, however, noted that it was not unexpected that practices purporting to exorcise witchcraft and sorcery were still pervasive in the country. “There is therefore, the need for mass education, public awareness, media advocacy and sensitisation to the States and Local Government levels, especially in the rural areas on such harmful practices,” it stated.

It also noted the determination of the Federal Government to work in close collaboration with the States and the Local Governments against such retrogressive belief systems, especially those affecting the welfare of innocent children.
The statement noted that government had adopted several treaties to curb such negative cultural practices in accordance with international standards.

These include the domestication of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Nigeria is a signatory, by ensuring that the Child Rights Act was adopted by the National Assembly in 2003.
It explained further that Nigeria was also a signatory to the African Union Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which was also domesticated in 2000.

The statement also added that 17 states had enacted similar legislations, as pointed out in the particular case of Akwa Ibom State by Gov. Godswill Akpabio in the documentary under reference.
NAN recalls that the British Prime Minister, Mr Gordon Brown at the just concluded UN High Level Meeting on Interfaith and Inter-cultural Dialogue in New York had alleged that a school existed in Abuja funded by extremist group, poisoning children’s minds and attracting them to a life of terrorism.
“Recently in Abuja in Nigeria I visited school where children were either sitting on the floor without a desk or were sitting three to the desk that had been built for one.”

- Culled from Todays Punch newspaper 25/11/2008 (Page 9)

It is somewhat reassuring that sometimes, there are sensible people within the government. [s]Who do not necessarily share the opinions of some people on this thread[/s]