Witchcraft is not uncommon in this age of computer and economic revolution across the globe but the manner in which it is prevailing in Nigeria defies all human values. In various parts of the west African country, Evangelical pastors have made it a lucrative business for themselves to brand young children, sometimes infants, as witches who are spreading evil in the villages.

The most unfortunate part of the story is that parents pay the pastors large sums of money to get rid of their own children. This is another tragic fact that I am having to discuss involving the plight of unfortunate young children which is the direct result of senseless superstitions.

According to various human rights groups, the blind belief of child witches is prevalent among all the sections of the society, literate and illiterate, wealthy and the poor, law enforcement agencies, law makers and of course religious leaders. The pastors earn large sums of money, required for deliverances, from the parents of the victimized child. Undoubtedly this horrific practice of torturing young children in the name witch hunt is an extreme form of child trafficking and abuse. Religious superstitions among the locals have made these corrupt pastors spread this evil practices for lucrative returns.

Though Nigeria is a oil-rich state, poverty is widespread and the religious leaders have taken undue opportunities to earn illegal money. The influential pastors blame the child witches or wizards of bringing misfortune to the lives of the population like poverty, unemployment, diseases, natural disasters, etc. The victims are then inhumanely tortured and on most occasions burnt alive in front of their parents and fellow villagers. The Nigerian government has been largely unsuccessful in tackling the problem given the deep superstitious beliefs among the population.

The state of Akwa Ibom in the Niger delta is particularly notorious for these tragic events. The presence of influential ‘Black Magic’ doctors in African societies as a whole also adds fuel to the evil practice of torturing young children. These self-proclaimed doctors or healers of black-magic are none other than corrupt individuals who are involved in the lucrative business of child trafficking and exploit the poor sections of the society by their dubious teachings.

The most unfortunate thing is the involvement of various African churches in these criminal acts. Children are regarded as gifts of God and yet the lives of those children are being destroyed by the preachers of religion. Its utterly condemnable and infuriating.

Image: Observer 147555