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Children ‘Witches’ Killed In A’Ibom
Wife of Rivers State Governor Dame Judith Amaechi, in a warm embrace with her Ebonyi State counterpart, Chief Mrs Josephine Elechi during the official launching of campaign on Accelerated Reduction Of Maternal Mortality In Africa (CARMMA), Abuja recently.
The nine-year-old boy lay on a bloodstained hospital sheet crawling with ants, staring blindly at the wall.
His family pastor had accused him of being a witch, and his father then tried to force acid down his throat as an exorcism. It spilled as he struggled, burning away his face and eyes. The emaciated boy barely had strength left to whisper the name of the church that had denounced him Mount Zion Lighthouse.
A month later, he died.
Nwanaokwo Edet, a native of Eket in Akwa Ibom State, was one of an increasing number of children in the state accused of witchcraft by pastors and then tortured or killed, often by family members. Pastors were involved in half of 200 cases of “witch children” and 13 churches were named in the case files.
Wife of Rivers State Governor Dame Judith Amaechi, in a warm embrace with her Ebonyi State counterpart, Chief Mrs Josephine Elechi during the official launching of campaign on Accelerated Reduction Of Maternal Mortality In Africa (CARMMA), Abuja recently.