Horrific! Two Underage Girls Tortured & Branded Witches Almost Lose Their Lives In Their Hometown
10 year old Aniema and 13-year-old Mary shared their story with Crossriver Watch yesterday. They spoke about how they were branded witches and almost tortured to death in their village before they were rescued. They were tracked to Asanting village in Ikono local government area of Akwa Ibom State, after their father relocated them there following their near death experience in the hands of persons they referred to as “uncles”.
“That faithful day I was taken to Church and accused of being a witch. Uncle Victor asked that I confess that I am a witch or else when we get back to the house he will beat me up and use nails to pierce my body, but I told him that I was not a witch. The next day Adiaha Akpan (who is their step sister) said she had a dream where I and Aniema my sister came to take her child away and that I wanted to kill her. She told Uncle Victor about the dream and he came and took us to the bush and started flogging us. When they went away I managed to untie myself and ran away but a broken bottle pierced my feet but I kept on running. The uncle caught up with me and continued with the flogging using big sticks and I was crying. They took me from one house to the other and some people joined them to flog me. They burned a nylon bag and let the flames fall on our skin to make us confess” Mary and Aniema recounted
Okon Edet Bassey, who is a staff of the Cross River State Local Government Service Commission and also the children’s guardian intervened early enough to help save the children.
“I wasn’t around so I didn’t know where they were tied up. But when the information got to me, I sent a message across to them and reported the incident to some Army men who were there. When they heard about my moves they rushed and untied the children. As they brought the children back home, I quarreled with them and I was highly angry with them.”
Bassey with the help of the Basic Right Council Initiative (BRCI), a not-for-profit organization based in Calabar with interest in safeguarding the rights of children, treated the children and ensured their safety. They then proceeded to the church where the Pastor had accused the children of being witches, Divine Zion of God Church. In an unfortunate twist of events, Bassey was arrested by the police for invading private property, while the police overlooked the fact that the so- called pastor had illegally detained and tortured two under aged girls.
The case is still under investigation.
hmmmmnn
This akwa ibom people and tagging kids as witches is getting out of hand. Something needs to be done asap.