Photo: See How Two Kids Accused of Witchcraft in Calabar were Tortured by their Family & Pastor

According to CrossRiverWatch, two children age, 10 and 7, were rescued from being murdered by some members of Divine Zion of God Church Ikot Abasi Effiom district of Akpabuyo LGA led by Prophet David Effiom Zion and some members of their family.

The children were accused by their cousin of being witches and allegedly snatching her unborn baby in a dream.

They were then 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.

The beating 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.

The rights group had gone to Ikot-Abasi-Effiom community in Akpabuyo Local Government Area of Cross River State to screen the movie when they were notified about the two children.

Luckily for the children, an uncle who just arrived from town saw what had happened and demanded that the children be released, and subsequently informed BRCI about what was happening.

The Secretary of BRCI, Barrister James Ibor stated 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.

 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 condemns any actions that abuse or torture children on the grounds of witchcraft accusations. However, the rescued children were later taken to the Community Health Center where BRCI paid their bills. They are being  given proper medical attention.

Photo credit: CrossRiverWatch.com