Belief in witchcraft runs deep in Nigeria as in other African countries. This belief coupled with an increase in tragedy from amorphous social ills like poverty, AIDS, and the loss of community to urbanization, has created a deadly situation for a growing number of children scapegoated for a world gone wrong.
According to a recent report by UNICEF, “Children Accused of Witchcraft,” accusations in witchcraft are on the rise in general in Nigeria, and in particular against children and adolescents.
UNICEF notes in its report that often the accusations occur in “multi-crisis” situations and usually target children who are already vulnerable.
“What happens is that members of a family, community, or church accuse a child of being a witch, very often after some kind of calamity, like the death of a family member, the loss of a job, or infertility. Young children who are naughty or hyperactive, children who like to sleep outside at night when the weather is hot, or even babies who cry a lot have also been accused of witchcraft,” wrote Paula Fedeski, communication chief at UNICEF Nigeria Country Office, in an e-mail.
The report describes horrific accusations, one child “admitted” to killing 800 people while flying with other witches on a piece of tree bark.
A multipart documentary on Briton’s Channel 4 “Saving Africa’s Witch Children,” shows shocking cadres of children in Nigeria accused of being witches. One little girl tells a story how a pastor told her mother she was a witch, and the mother believed, and burnt the child with fire.
Another girl was declared a witch, then beaten and forced to identify the other witches in the village all of whom were then tortured. In all these cases there was no evidence against the children. And the children themselves denied being witches.
Christian preachers often instigate the accusations. They induce hatred between children and their families, and then extort huge amounts of money from families for “deliverance.”
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“Within Nigeria, children are particular targets of witchcraft accusations. They may then be subjected to abusive ‘deliverance’ ceremonies designed to drive out the spirit of the witch. They are often abandoned or neglected by their families and end up living on the streets,” wrote Secker in an e-mail from Nigeria.
“When children are accused of being witches, it is alleged that they enter the spirit world whilst they are asleep and there cause harm to people,” adds Secker.
Contrary to the so called “testimonies” of witch children, which are sometimes extracted by force and torture, there are no documented records that children actually committed crimes.
“There is no physical evidence that children who are accused of being witches have carried out any of the activities for which they are blamed,” says Secker.
Methods to “treat” witches vary from abandonment, isolation, and public disgrace to horrific murder scenarios such as being slaughtered in the forest, being given an acid bath, being poisoned by a deadly berry (asire), being buried alive or being chained and tortured in churches in order to extract “confessions,” describes Stepping Stones on its website.
“There is no clear definition of witchcraft as understandings of witches vary between different social groups,” says Secker.
The Role of Government
The practice of witchcraft is considered a crime under the law of several African countries, but not in Nigeria.
In Nigeria, the abuse of children because they are believed to be witches is a crime under both international law—the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Nigeria is a party—and Nigeria’s Child Rights Act passed by most states, says Stepping Stones’ Secker.
Earlier this year, the Nigerian government formally condemned the practice of abusing children as witches and wizards, acknowledging its stigmatization of innocent children, media reported.
Nigeria’s permanent secretary at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Development, Alhaji Idris Kuta called the practice “unacceptable and should receive outright condemnation.”
The government also promised to limit the activities of various churches in the country.
The government’s statement came after Nigeria was heavily criticized for its childwitch hunts at a U.N. meeting on the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Nigerian government has now pledged to combat the accusers and protect vulnerable adolescents from suffering physical and psychological violence as a result.
However, as the documentary points out, police have difficulty apprehending guilty parties—usually the parents or preachers who exploited them—since villagers won’t cooperate.
“Nobody wants the return of a child denounced as a witch,” says the film’s narrative.
Nonetheless, advocates against Nigeria’s witch hunt see hope.
Lynda Battarbee, advocacy and campaigns officer with Stepping Stones, commended the Nigerian government for taking a stance.
“This is a major victory for child rights in Nigeria. We are delighted that the Nigerian Federal government has publicly stated their opposition to child witchcraft accusations and their commitment to eradicating this horrific practice,” wrote Battarbee, in a statement published on International Humanist and Ethical Union website.
Battarbee was pleased that the minister for women’s affairs had written to the Nigerian president over the issue. “This sends a clear message to the perpetrators of these terrible acts that they will be found and punished,” she wrote.
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