How Cross River, Akwa Ibom Are Re-branding Nigeria

• Liyel Imoke, Cross River governor and  • Godswill Akpabio, Akwa Ibom governor

 If you do an internet search of the phrase “child witch,” Nigeria will pop up in droves. In addition to other negative attributes, like drug trafficking and fraud, that foreigners have attached to Nigeria, witch-hunting in its original form seems to be sticking on us courtesy of Cross River State and Akwa Ibom State, two states that used to be one until September 23, 1987. One wonders if the fraud and drug trafficking tags are not heavy enough for us to be seen as witch hunters all over the world.

In the foreign media, there are gory stories and pictures of children, including toddlers, who have been bathed with acid and hot water. Some have six-inch nails driven into their heads. Some were burnt to death or even buried alive. The luckier thousands are whipped and driven away to roam the streets. These children are labelled witches and wizards by so-called pastors, prophets and bishops. Reports have it that there are more churches in Nigeria than schools and hospitals combined. Given the severe competition among these churches to win members that will guarantee the survival and wellbeing of these churches, many of their operators become desperate and devise many illicit means to survive.

All over the country, pastors label children and adults witches and wizards, but it seems this problem has taken a dangerous dimension in Cross River and Akwa Ibom.  Children are tagged witches and wizards that have caused their parents and siblings such misfortunes as deaths, miscarriages, loss of jobs, financial straits, lack of marriage, lack of success in life, drug abuse, sexual escapades, drunkenness, etc. These unfortunate children are subsequently tortured until they “confess” and then disfigured, driven away or even killed.

It is inexplicable that an area which had contact with Western education and Christianity decades before most other Nigerians did so could allow itself to be deceived by desperate con men and evil merchants who call themselves “pastors” and “prophets.”  Let us assume, for the purposes of argument, that a child is discovered to be possessed by evil spirits, what would Jesus Christ or his apostles do to the child? Jesus Christ or Peter or Paul would immediately cast the evil spirits out and set the child free. That was what Jesus did to Mary Magdalene, and she became one of his most dedicated followers, even having the honour of being the first human being to see the risen Christ. If Christians don’t use the Bible as their standard and reference point, I wonder how they can be called Christians. These fake men of God have no iota of spiritual power and cannot cast out any evil spirits, so they resort to casting children away. It is surprising that such fake pastors and prophets are not exposed and punished for not only exploiting the public but also endangering the lives of children.

This is a national embarrassment. When foreigners talk about it, they do not even mention Cross River and Akwa Ibom; rather they mention Nigeria. We now have the image of “child killers” in the world. This must be curbed forthwith to avoid more damage.

I call on the governments of the two states to pass a law that makes it an act of murder (or attempted murder) for any pastor, prophet, evangelist, fortune teller, seer, diviner, parent, guardian or anybody, for that matter, to call any child or person a witch or wizard or act in any way to suggest that any child or person is a witch or wizard. The penalty for such should not be less than life imprisonment. And the parents and guardians of children who are currently homeless or living in children’s homes as a result of this inhuman labeling should be traced and arrested for prosecution immediately, unless they pledge in writing, supported by reputable guarantors, to keep the children under their roof and cater for them without any discrimination whatsoever.

It is bad enough that many religious groups are exploiting the faith of worshippers to fleece them, but molesting children in this horrendous way is a heinous crime that should be frowned at and attacked frontally. There should also be a strong campaign to the locals to make them believe less that their ill fortunes are caused by external forces. It may be difficult, but it is achievable.

From North to South and from East to West, the problem of this nation is not caused by witches and wizards but by terrible leadership and stealing of our national wealth.  And the more our religious leaders like the great prophets of old condemn rather than condone our corrupt leaders, the more they call our leaders to order rather than give them front-row seats and pray for them, the more our country will be freed from maladministration and embezzlement and the consequent poverty, ignorance and under-development that hold our people down. Just like kidnapping that has made foreigners afraid to come to Nigeria and fellow Nigerians exiles in their own country, this witch crisis is another sore point to our image as a nation. And it needs to be tackled frontally with every weapon in our arsenal. This is not the time for sons and daughters of the two states to defend their states by telling other Nigerians to mind their business, or for non-indigenes of the two states to pretend like the ostrich that what happens in Cross River or Akwa Ibom does not concern then. Our people say that when one finger touches palm oil, it soon soils all the other fingers.