The rate at which children are abandoned and neglected over accusations of witchcraft is disturbing, annoying and worrisome. From Angola to Gambia to Uganda to Nigeria to Sierra Leone to Congo to Ethiopia, there are thousands of homeless children living on the streets and majority of these children were expelled from their homes over witchcraft accusations.
A source told SafeAfrica that more than 15,000 children were branded as witches and most of them end up abandoned and abused on the streets mostly in Akwa Ibom and Cross River State.
The prodigy of witch-hunts in Sub-Saharan Africa is ancient. In Africa, a witch is seen as the most evil person responsible for disease, affliction, penury and disastrous occurrences. When someone is accused of witchcraft in African societies before the advent of urbanization, HIV/AIDS, absolute poverty among others, such individual is either an elderly person, disabled or albino because they see anyone considered different from others to be a witch.
We’ve had several cases where children are accused of witchcraft and later subjected to violent exorcism rituals by pastors and Alfas who mix religions with African witchcraft beliefs.
These children branded as witches are forced to be incarcerated or starved or compelled to drink hazardous substances to free them from alleged witchcraft or set on fire with gasoline.
When questions are asked about child witchcraft from its promoters mainly pastors and Alfas, they provide explanation lacking depth, clear explanation or compelling arguments.
A person is considered a witch if he or she employs black magic or have the ability to summon spirits, exert control over, or affect other individuals or circumstances that are thought to be the result of sorcery.
Apart from negative definitions that portray all things dark or black as evil, intentions and purpose do. When employed negatively, both dark magic and white magic (if it exists) represent evil.
Most magicians have incredibly limited abilities. They are primarily motivated by cunning and crafty skills, which are keenly defined by native intellect and emotional intelligence. They employ gimmicks and diverting techniques to support their acts, whether they are young or old.
A larger percentage of Africans believe that magicians are witches or wizards. When they see any individual performing magic or exercising strange powers, they see such person as a witch if he’s not a Christian or Muslim.
When you take away religious beliefs and literature, witchcraft would not survive the test of time. One does not need to exercise black magic to become a witch. If you frown over people’s successes, you’re an evildoer. When the tears and agonies of others make you happy or joyous, you’re an evildoer. If you wish peoples bad, you’re an evildoer. You don’t have to possess black powers or directly do evil to be an evildoer. And all these are mostly exhibited by grown-up individuals not children.
Child witchcraft is a made-up concept. It is a made-up, invented, and mythical concept that was invented with the intention of inciting dread or purposeful segregation. It has not yet been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Some schools of thought believe that foreign religions simply invented or introduced it into the society to justify miracles, deliverance, and redemption in addition to demonizing local religions. Miracles or deliverance are born out of difficulties or troubles. They see witchcraft as available market for miracles and deliverance.
Others see it as an invention that is supported by writers, filmmakers, and artists who write fiction.
Recently, a man in his seventies was beaten and set on fire in Benue due to accusations of witchcraft. He was accused of witchcraft, which almost cost him his life. They did not see him drinking blood. They did not see him flying at night. They also accused him of being responsible for their worries as pictured by novelists and filmmakers. And a headless mob is calling for his execution because they believe he is a witch.
The narrative of this man in his seventies is like to those of every African youngster who has been abandoned or forsaken and left to perish on the streets due to allegations of witchcraft. Millions of children are left unattended by their families since pastors blamed them for their issues. If they were fortunate enough to be alive, these abandoned youngsters could be found on the streets.
Both old and young people but the rising figures of young people is simply disturbing and quite worrisome. While some children were slaughtered and reduced to ashes, others were exposed to ritualistic crimes.
Do young witches really exist? This reporter does not agree with religious statements concerning their existence. Break away from the fiction books and movies; witches are not born. Only “heavenly mates” who rely on the collective abilities of their group exist, according to Yoruba beliefs.
These heavenly partners don’t act in a bad way. They just encourage and motivate their members. It is asserted with established Ifa corpus that these associations also exist in heavens, just like on earth where individuals get together to create groups and help members.
We must rescue our thoughts from charges of witchcraft and allow young children to prosper in life. There are no witches in children. Young people’s lives have been damaged and they have continued to be abused and abandoned as a result of unfounded charges.
Sadly, pastors and Alfas were frequently accused of pushing away children by their families. These young children were suspected of practicing witchcraft, and their families were promised more business and prosperity. They would warn them that there would be no genuine atonement if these children were not sent away. These little children would be taken away, and the families would remain in utter poverty.
Why subject young kids to harm or abuse just to further our religious beliefs? Why would we risk the safety of young children in order to promise their parents affluence that would never materialize?
There are those fortunate kids accused of witchcraft who, thanks to adoption, were spared from abuse and hunger. Have you also read captivating tales about them? Have you read about Anja Ringgren Lovén, a Danish relief worker, who adopted a young, ill boy? He is now grown, wholesome, and fleshy. He resides with 35 of the Danish charity worker’s adopted children who were also charged with witchcraft.
Why do these little youngsters bless their adopted fathers and mothers if they are actually witches? Why do they get along with them well?
In Africa, population growth is geometric but the likelihood of survival is arithmetic. When you have several children who have little responsibility, they often wind up becoming a burden. You cannot have more children than you can support without experiencing difficulty.
The majority of parents use allegations of witchcraft as an escape from their duties, while others who were looking for miracles or wealth were duped by phony pastors who are witch detectors.
When you are struggling to make ends meet on your own, having children is not necessary, this reporter opines. You don’t need marriage or kids if you’re struggling to make ends meet or are in need. Opportunities, not obligations, are what you need. In Africa, the idea of child witchcraft is widely accepted because there is a ready-made environment of extreme poverty for it.
If parents could care for their families and children, and if there were hospitals that could treat sick children affordably, child witchcraft would not persist. In order to further their causes and worsen the harm to society, parents and religious authorities participate in witch hunting.
There are no witches in children. A child born with innate aptitude, odd instincts, the capacity to dream or predict the future, or any combination of these, is not a witch. You are the witch if you have children that you cannot support as a struggling adult. The poor youngster is merely a casualty of your sorcery.
Children being abused, tortured, and abandoned due to charges of witchcraft is horrible and ought to be categorically denounced by everyone with common sense.
