Issues
Checking Child-Witch Syndrome In Nigeria
A film, “The Fake Prophet”, has just been premiered in Abuja and the movie aims at stemming the “child-witch” syndrome, which is prevalent in most parts of Nigeria, especially in Akwa Ibom State.
The film’s plot involves two children, who were branded as witches in their communities and were subsequently ostracised.
An avaricious man, who claims to be a clergyman, takes custody of the children, ostensibly to “deliver” them from the spirit of witchcraft.
Instead, he exploits them and further worsens their situation, while also defrauding other unsuspecting persons in his nefarious acts.
Nemesis, however, catches up with the fake cleric and he is arrested, tried and sentenced to a 10-year jail term, the maximum for child rights’ offences in the state.
The film’s producer – Stepping Stones Nigeria (SSN), an international charity organisation, says that the production is one of the several efforts of SSN to campaign against child rights’ abuses, especially “child-witch” stigmatisation, child trafficking, labour and abandonment.
Observers say that in Nigeria, several persons are often accused of practising witchcraft, an accusation which has led to many being killed, maimed or completely ostracised by their local community members.
No doubt, the belief in witchcraft is deeply rooted in the traditions of many communities across Nigeria, though the syndrome of “child-witches” is a relatively recent phenomenon.
Analysts say that such beliefs result from cultural superstitions, religious practices or even insidious poverty.
They recall that the international community only came to the full realisation of the scope of the “child-witch” syndrome about two years ago, when the mass media broke the news of its prevalence in Akwa Ibom to the international community.
SSN’s Programme Director, Mr Gary Foxcroft, says that the film seeks to highlight the legal consequences of child stigmatisation as witches.
According to him, the realisation of such consequences by families and communities will compel them to re-appraise their age-old beliefs and prejudices and change them.
“It aims to counter-balance the contents of some Nollywood films, which have exacerbated the belief in “child witches” and consequently, encouraged the abuse and abandonment of innocent children.
“The film will be released in UK into the international markets, while it will be widely distributed throughout Nigeria, with thousands of copies given out free to citizens of Akwa Ibom and neighbouring states, where the scourge is prevalent.
“Translations will be made into French, as well as other indigenous languages,’’ Foxcroft says, adding that the mass production of the movie will support efforts to uphold the rights of the Nigerian child.
In a matter of days, when Nigeria will be marking its 50th anniversary as a sovereign nation, no fewer than 80 children in far away Eket will also be celebrating freedom of a different kind within the precincts of their new dormitory at a rehabilitation center built for them by UNICEF.
The children, who had suffered inhuman treatment as a result of their being branded as witches, can now boast of a more comfortable environment, which sharply contrasts with their former abodes that exhibit squalor.
Observers say that the provision of the children’s rehabilitation centre is very instructive as the children, who had been abandoned and abused, are being successfully rehabilitated.
They recall that about two years ago, these children had no hope as they were abandoned by their parents, while some worship places capitalised on their plight to extort gullible parents and guardians.
Often, most of the children, who came from poor backgrounds, were taken to certain worship houses where they “confessed” their misdeeds during sessions often characterised by vicious forms of torture.
However, the fortunes of these hapless children changed when their plight came to the limelight, while stakeholders rallied around to give them succour.
According to the Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN), an Eket-based NGO, the “child-witch” syndrome in Akwa Ibom has steadily been on the decline.
CRARN’s President, Mr Sam Ikpe-Ituama, a child rights activist, says that the efforts and commitment of Akwa Ibom Government to tackling the menace is substantially responsible for the drop.
“Since the enactment of the Child Rights’ Act in Akwa Ibom in 2008, there has been a lot of enlightenment, advocacy and work in the direction of protecting the rights of defenseless children.
“We are focused on ending the ‘child-witch’ syndrome, which is largely caused by poverty and ignorance. We are committed to ending the phenomenon in partnership with the state government and other stakeholders,’’ he says.
Ikpe-Ituama says he is glad that government has been arresting and prosecuting those who abused the child rights, especially clergymen and parents, who were deeply involved in the stigmatisation.
“We have so many cases that are pending in the courts or are at various stages of investigation by the police. However, the establishment of family courts will hasten dispensation of justice.
According to Ikpe-Itauma, the children’s rehabilitation centre has been able to reunite many children with their families after counselling sessions for both parents and children.
“Reconciliation is an integral part of our work, and every week, children leave the centre because we believe that the best place for the child is the home; the centre is only to provide temporary relief to the stigmatised children.
“Our records show that in 2009, we rescued 84 children from the streets. So far, 52 have been rescued this year, out of which four have returned home. Two cases were referred to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development,’’ he says.
Ikpe-Ituama believes that the children, whose ages range from two to 15 years, have overcome their trauma and are also now in school, sometimes helping out in the campaigns against child abuse.
He applauds the efforts of the Akwa Ibom Government, saying that “we have been relieved of so many burdens by the assistance from the government.
“Some of the children from here have been transferred to the government shelter for abandoned children in Uyo and that is why this place is no longer congested as it used to be,” he says.
Ponle, writes for NAN
Buki Ponle
This is an open letter to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Your Excellency,
Sir, ordinarily, I would not be writing an open letter to you, but like a wise man once said, “Silence would be Treason.” So I prefer to stay alive than face the consequences of silence in the face of crime. With each passing day, and as the socio-political tides continue to turn, it has become more pertinent that more people speak up in a concerted MANNER to prevent the death of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as we appear to be, in the words of W. B. Yeats, “turning and turning in the widening gyre” heading for an end where the falcon will no longer hear the falconer
It is unfortunate that since losing control of the Federal Government, with the loss of President Goodluck Jonathan at the poll in 2015, our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has continued on a downward spiral. It is much more painful, that where it is expected that leaders within the party should rise to the challenge and put an end to this decline of our great party, some have instead taken up roles as its undertaker.
It will be hypocritical to claim aloofness to what I believe is your grouse with the PDP and I am not a hypocrite. It will be uncharitable on my part to discountenance the role you have played in strengthening the PDP from 2015 up until the last Presidential primaries of the party. It is my belief that your grouse against certain members of the party who you perceived worked against the party and abandoned it in 2015 and then came around much later to take control of the party, is justified. Also know that your decision to remain in the Party and stifle its progress on the other hand, as a sort of payback, stands condemned. For a man of your pedigree and stature, it is a dishonorable act, highly dishonorable and stands as testimony against all you claim to stand for.
At least, it can be argued that those who you hold this grudge against, abandoned the party completely and did not sit back while actively working to destroy it from within. But what then can be the argument on your own part, seeing that those you are currently working with against your party are the same people who set in motion, and executed surgically, the plans that not only ended our Party’s leadership at the centre, but ended up dislodging the first Niger Deltan to occupy Aso Rock as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Is this not akin to “cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face?” That will be worse than folly. Let us not throw away the baby with the bath water because we do not like the soap used in bathing the baby. It will be a grave mistake.
Honourable Minister, sir, it is rather unfortunate that of all people, you have also decided to play the role of an undertaker not only for our party, but for our dear Rivers State.
I will like to take you down memory lane a little. Let me remind you of your emergence as Guber candidate of the PDP in Rivers State, against all fairness and justice in 2014. You will remember that despite the reality being that you as an Ikwerre man was poised to replace a fellow Ikwerre man in Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in our multiethnic state, Rivers people overwhelmingly stood by you and pushed for your emergence as Executive Governor of Rivers State in 2015. I dare say that your popularity in the entire Niger Delta region was at an all-time high at this point.
I want you to understand why you were loved across board leading to your eventual emergence as Governor of Rivers State in 2015; it was because when it looked like all were against the second term ambitions of the first Niger Delta man to emerge as President of Nigeria, you became not just a pillar but a beacon of resistance by standing for Goodluck Jonathan. Rivers people, as grateful and rewarding as they can be, paid you back by ensuring your electoral victory against the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC) led by your predecessor. On your emergence, where there were second term Governors in the region, you, a first term Governor, was seen by the people as not just the leader of the PDP, but the leader of the entire Niger Delta region. You earned it, and no one could dispute it.
In 2019, when your re-election bid was being challenged ferociously, Rivers people once again stood solidly behind you. Many were killed in the process of defending your votes. Do you remember Dr. Ferry Gberegbe that was shot and killed while trying to protect your votes in Khana Local Government Area? There are many more unnamed and unrecognised sons and daughters of Rivers State who sacrificed their lives so that you could emerge as a second term Governor of Rivers State.
In 2022/23, Honourable Minister, you oversaw a party primary across board that saw some candidates imprisoned and internal party democracy jettisoned for your wishes, leading to the emergence of flag bearers of our party all singlehandedly picked by you. You have on more than one occasion publicly stated that you paid for all their forms. Even those shortchanged in this process licked their wounds and continued to play their roles as party members to ensure the success of the party at all levels. In what will go down as one of the most keenly contested elections in recent Rivers history, with formidable candidates like Senator Magnus Abe of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr Tonye Cole of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the vibrant youth driven Labour Party (LP), PDP emerged victorious across board except for Phalga Constituency 1 that was lost to the Labour Party. (Not that you did not loose in some other LGA’s but let’s stick to the official figures declared by INEC).
It begs the question, why then do you want to burn down Rivers State, when everyone who now holds political office emerged through a process designed and endorsed by you? Is it that you do not care about Rivers people and you are all about yourself? If so, I am forced to believe that those around you are not telling you the truth. The truth being that in a state where your words were law; where houses and businesses could be demolished or closed down without any recourse to legalities, where Executive Orders could be deployed to stifle the opposition, that your popularity is now at an all-time low. Probably because they are afraid of you, or of losing the benefits they gain from you, they fail to tell you that what you might perceive as a battle against your successor, has slowly but gradually degenerating into a battle against Rivers State and Rivers people. You know, there is a popular saying that, a man can cook for the community and the community will finish the food, but when a community decides to cook for one man, the reverse is the case.
LEAVE FUBARA ALONE
You have gone on and on about being betrayed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara. You point fingers forgetting that some of those same fingers quick to spot betrayals point straight back at you. It is not Governor Fubara that has betrayed the PDP by working against it in the just concluded General Election, and working with the opposition at the State and Federal level to destabilise the party. It is you, Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that betrayed Rivers people by instigating a political crisis with propensity to escalate ethnic tensions in Rivers State. It is you Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that has declared himself God over all in Rivers State and has no qualms with burning the state to the ground to prove a point. It is you Honourable Minister. It is you Honourable Minister who told the world that the APC was a cancer and you can never support a cancerous party. It is you Honourable Minister who ended up facilitating the emergence of the same “cancerous” APC that has accelerated the economic decline of this country and further impoverished our people with no remorse. All so you can be a Minister of the Federal Capital Territory? The lack of self awareness is gobsmacking.
Some days back I came across a video where you talked about death and how you do not cry when you hear about the death of some people because you have no idea what might have caused it considering many a politician swear “over dead bodies” and still go back on their words. Those words made me think, and I could see the reason behind them. You see, in chosing to be God in the affairs of Rivers people, you have closed your eyes and ears to reason; you see nothing and hear nothing that can cause you to rethink on the path you have chosen. In your quest to “show Fubara” you have unwittingly united a vast majority of Rivers people behind him, so much that even those who despised him because of you, now like or love him, because of you too. In your scheming, I will advise you not to forget that “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Note that the war which you have or are waging against Governor Fubara, has gone beyond being merely political as you might see in your minds eye. It is now one that, fortunately for some and unfortunately for others, has evolved into a war against Rivers people. It is good to point out that no one has taken a stand against Rivers people and won. No one has gone against God and won. In your defiant characteristic manner, it will be unfortunate if you believe your own hubris and that of those around you on the possibility of you being the first to successfully go against Rivers people. It will be a needless gamble; one where if you win you create more enemies for yourself than you can withstand on your political journey, and if you lose, your legacy becomes an inglorious and irredeemable one in Rivers State, the Niger Delta, and Nigeria at large. For your sake as regards posterity, it is my greatest wish that you have a moment of sobriety and a deep reflection and introspection on this path you have chosen.
Honourable Minister, sir, what is left of your legacy is on the brink of being completely desecrated and relegated to the dustbin of our political history, and it will be a sad end to what I will say has been a wonderful political career that many can only dream of. The ball is in your court, and may God Almighty have mercy on us all and forgive us for our shortcomings.
Gabriel Baritulem Pidomson
Dr Pidomson is former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and former member, Rivers State House of Assembly.
In 2015, I made a conscious decision to invest my financial resources, my time, and energy into supporting Nyesom Wike’s gubernatorial campaign. I poured my heart and soul into ensuring Nyesom Wike emerged victorious even at the risk of my personal safety.
Again in 2019, I doubled down on my commitment. I invested a significant amount of money to procure campaign outfits for all twenty-three Local Governments Areas of Rivers State. I spared no expense in supplementing Wike’s election efforts in my own local government, and once again putting myself at great risk to safeguard the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.
However, despite my unwavering loyalty and sacrifices, I found myself abandoned and forgotten by Wike. Throughout his eight-year tenure, he failed to acknowledge my contributions or fulfill his promises and agreements. Even as a former Deputy Governor, Wike denied me my severance benefit.
My investment in Wike’s governorship was not just financial – it was a commitment of passion, dedication, and belief in a better future for Rivers State. Yet, his leadership style of dishonesty, greed, drunkenness and rash abuse of senior citizens brought me nothing but disappointment, misery and losses.
By the grace of God, today I speak not as a victim, but as a hero. I have accepted my losses, and I have moved on. And as I reflect on my experience, I cannot help but urge Wike to do the same and allow peace and development to reign in Rivers State.
Nyesom Wike, when you speak of investing in Governor Sim Fubara’s election, remember those like me who also invested in you. Remember the sacrifices I made, the risks I took, and the promises and agreements you left unfulfilled.
It is time for you, Wike, to let go of the past and allow Governor Sim Fubara the breathing space he needs to lead Rivers State forward. Allow him to focus on the challenges of good governance and the aspirations of the people. Spare him these unwarranted and ill-conceived political manoeuvrings founded on personal agenda and not for general good of Rivers State and her people.
I may have lost my investment on Wike, but I have not lost hope in the future of Rivers State. And together, we will continue to strive for a brighter tomorrow.
Long Live the Governor to Rivers State, Sir Siminialayi Fubara!
Long Live the Good People of Rivers State!!
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!
Engr Ikuru is former Deputy Governor of Rivers State.
Tele Ikuru
