Two
children were rescued this morning from being killed by some members of Divine
Zion of God Church Ikot Abasi Effiom district of Akpabuyo LGA and their family
members after they were branded witches.
According
to CrossRiverWatch, led by one prophet David Effiom Zion and some members of
their family, the children, aged, 7 and 10, were accused by their cousin of
being witches and allegedly snatching her baby in a dream. They tied the
children to a tree and assaulted them with machete.
Below
is the report by CrossRiverWatch:
"The
stigma that confronted the children since they were branded witches took on a
new dimension when the children were taken to the forest, tied to a tree,
battered and assaulted with a machete by some members of the family, leaving
them with cuts and bruises all over their bodies.
"This
happened on the heels of the screening of the movie ‘The Fake Prophet’ in Ikot
Offiong Ambai community in Akpabuyo Local Government Area (LGA) by Basic Rights
Counsel Initiative (BRCI), a child’s rights organization based in Calabar
"Respite
came the way of the children when an uncle who arrived from town demanded the
release of the children with threats of calling the police and on learning of
BRCI’s visit, took the children to the venue where the movie highlighting
issues of child abuse and witchcraft branding was being screened.
"In
his opening remark, the Secretary of BRCI, Barrister James Ibor noted that the
movie screening was to mark the 2016 Day of the African Child, recounting the
story of how the day was set aside by the Organization of African Unity (OAU)
now African Union (AU) in 1991.
"Speaking
also, Theresa Okpa who is the Executive Director of Mediatrix Development
Foundation (MDF), the NGO of the Wife of the Governor of Cross River State, Dr.
Linda Ayade said issues of child witch branding is abuse of the rights of
children and assured that the Mediatrix Foundation is partnering with
organizations like BRCI to address issues relating to the abuse of children’s
rights.
"In
the same vein, Rev. Okon James, the Assistant Pastor of the Mount Zion
Lighthouse
Full Gospel Church Ikot Offiong Ambai, emphatically noted that their church
does not promote the belief in witches and usually condemned any actions that
abuse or torture children on the grounds of being a witch.
"Meanwhile,
the rescued children were later taken to the Community Health Center where BRCI
paid the bills for them to be given proper medical attention, while ensuring
that the uncle who rescued them temporarily keep the children in his
custody."
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