Bewitching Protest: Accused Nigerian Child Witches Protest Abuse

In past blogs, we have been keeping track of the horrible fate of children and women in Nigeria and other parts of Africa accused of witchcraft. Belief in witches is common in Africa and shown recently with disclosures about one of Gov. Sarah Palin’s favorite preachers. Now, these children are protesting to try to get the world to pay attention to their plight and to get the government to act.

Christian Eshiett is a case in point of the ignorance and primitive religious beliefs that sustain these cases. His grandfather This grandfather, Eshiett Nelson Eshiett, 76, spoke how he suspected him of being a witch and beat him routinely: “I beat him severely with canes until they broke, yet he never shed a tear. One day, I took a broom to hit him and he started crying. Then I knew he was possessed by demons. … Nigerian witches are terrified of brooms.” The boy had to flee to avoid the beatings.

In just the states of Akwa Ibom and Cross River, there are about 15,000 children branded as witches. Many are beaten, starved and sometimes burned.

One problem is that some African leaders believe in this nonsense and contribute to the problem.

This extremely graphic and disturbing video show one such burning.

The continuation of this widespread abuse shows an obvious failure of the government to sufficiently prosecute the perpetrators and to educate its population.

For the full story, click here.