A year ago, the world was taken aback when on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom a nerve-taking documentary entitled Saving Africa’s Witch Children was aired. The demeaning scenes of tortured and stigmatised children tore hearts apart, human rights organisation, the press and well-meaning individuals moved into action. It became an issue and the film made headlines up till early this year; the Akwa Ibom government was moved to give free-education to primary to secondary students. Many stigmatised kids benefited. And just when we thought it was all over a follow-up film is out. Twenty years after the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) the road to upholding the rights of the child is far in parts of Nigeria.
Those who watched Saving Africa’s Witch Children would not forget the phrase “Say Amen…say amen…say amen,” that urges one into terrifying scenes of the documentary. That phrase, as innocent as it sounds, contrasted with the scenes that followed. Dehumanizing acts came after terrifying ones; all in the name of religion. Perpetrators said they were inspired by ‘God’. The screams of tortured children, terror in the eyes of the mob, made up of parents, guardians and other family members, their shouts warning the “culprit” to keep quiet and confess, usually drowned shouts, in all their shrillness, and the usual hectoring refrain to the children was: “how many people have you eaten?” The heartrending silence, as the viewer watched, made the film a blockbuster.
It was not the African idea of a science-fiction documentary; it was reality of the lives of some Akwa Ibom children allegedly stimagtised by family and relations.
For years they cried in silence, running to the Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN), headed by Sam Ikpe-Itauma, for refuge. But not until, Ikpe-Itauma encountered Gary Foxcroft, a Briton, who later saw the demeaning acts with his eyes, was the idea of the film born. The two have since been known as ‘child witch advocates’. The 47-minute film took two painstaking months to produce; its broadcast brought the plight of the children to the attention of world leaders including the Nigerian government, particularly Akwa Ibom State government. And then, they moved in to curb the trend. Fake prophets and prophetesses branding kids as witches were hunted; some like Ulup-Aya were even persecuted. Some kids were liberated. Five-year-old Utit-Ofong and her one-year-old sister named Otibe who were featured in the documentary were the first to benefit from the move of liberation. They were restored to their mother, a widow at Uqwuo in Esit Eket. Both were pronounced witches by a prophetess in Life Deliverance Ministry in Uyo and another from Brotherhood of the Cross at Nsit-Ubiam.
Before the shooting of the documentary, the marked child was the star of a horrendous drama scripted by both family and spiritualists. Immediately after a prophet, who usually requires a fee for the enterprise, brands a child a witch, affirmation is followed by torture. The end result is that the child is ostracized or killed.
One of those affected by the superstitious beliefs in the place was Sylvester. He was set ablaze by his father after a prophet told his parents he was possessed. Another girl, Uduak, 12, was banished from the home after being bundled like a ram and tied in both legs for days. This was after a prophetess branded her a witch. Mweka, a 13-year-old, was having a tranquil life with her uncle until she was pronounced ‘a witch’. According to the prophet, Mweka was responsible for the uncle’s misfortunes. She was beaten, forced to the ground and a five-inch nail driven into her head.
These gory acts birthed the heartrending documentary that has since won the BAFTA and EMMY awards. It was beamed on the evening of November 12 at exactly nine o’clock to stunned viewers, the tale of superstition and suffering the children in a rustic part of the Niger Delta, otherwise famous for its roiling dramas of oil, kidnapping and the ironic extravagancies of wealth and underdevelopment. CRARN and SSN have since offered some form of shelter for most of the children, giving them education, among other necessities.
Barely a year after, the facilitators and producers of Saving Africa’s Witch Children are out with what Nigerians would tag ‘Part Two’ of the horrifying documentary titled Return to Africa’s Witch Children. The film will be broadcast on the same Channel 4, today. And there will also be an exclusive preview of the latest film today at the Amnesty Human Rights Action Centre in London by 7.10pm, it was learnt.
Foxcroft, Director of Stepping Stones Nigeria (SSN) wrote in a statement announcing the public viewing of the film: “We are delighted to inform you that Return to Africa’s Witch Children the follow-up to the BAFTA and EMMY awarded documentary Saving Africa’s Witch Children will be broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK on Monday 23rd November. Stepping Stones Nigeria invites you to an exclusive preview of the latest film at the Amnesty Human Rights Action Centre in London, 7.10 pm on the 23rd with the opportunity to meet and question myself, Sam Itauma from CRARN and Lucky Inyang from SSNCEF.”
As the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) marked its 20th anniversary last Friday, child advocacy groups have raised the alarm over the increasing abuse of vulnerable and stigmatised children tagged as ‘witches’.
According to them, this treaty, which recognises the value and worth of every child and outlines their fundamental rights and freedoms, was designed to bring protection, empowerment and fulfillment to every child across the world and recognises them as individuals worthy of dignity and respect, is far from being implemented in some part of the country. Child advocates, under auspices of Stepping Stones Nigeria (SSN) set to see that this treaty is fully implemented by states across the country.
A statement signed by the Advocacy and Campaigns Officer, Lynda Battarbee, it reads: “We are very concerned about the spread of this abuse to new areas of Nigeria. It is essential that state governments immediately enact and implement robust legislation to protect the rights of innocent children from the activities of the false prophets who are using the teachings of Jesus Christ to steal from the poor and enrich themselves. The activities of these so-called men and women of God should be regulated by Government and arrests should be made in order to ensure that the rights of children are protected”.
Praising the government of Akwa Ibom for its fight of child abusers, it alleged that the states like Abia and Cross River are yet to curb the trend in their states. She said: “The Akwa Ibom State Government is leading the fight in trying to end child abuse by making it illegal to brand children as witches. However, other states such as Abia, Cross River and Bauchi, have also witnessed widespread child rights violations due to the belief in child witches and need to follow suit immediately if they are to protect the lives of innocent children.”
Citing education a weapon for curbing the raise in child abuse, she said: “I belief that one of the long-term solutions to this problem lies in Nigerian Federal and State Government’s investing signiûcant resources in education, with speciûc attention being paid to raising literacy levels amongst the poorest members of society. All Nigerian children have the right to be able to read and write. Literacy is therefore at the very heart of basic education for all, and is also essential for eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality, curbing population growth, achieving gender equality and ensuring sustainable development, peace and democracy.
“The future of tomorrow’s Nigeria will depend upon how it treats its children today. As such, on this important anniversary, it is absolutely essential that we place child rights at the very top of the agenda. Government, NGOs, religious groups and individuals should all join hands and work tirelessly towards ensuring that the child rights violations that tarnish the image of Nigeria and its people, such as those caused by the belief in child witches, soon become a thing of the past.”
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