Two children ─ Mary Odiong and Master Ekong Asua ─ both eight years, from the Okobo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, have been tortured and sent out of their homes on the allegation of witchcraft.
Odiong, who spoke with our correspondent on Thursday, said a few weeks after her uncle died in Okopedi village of an ailment suspected to be Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, some relatives of hers said she was responsible for the AIDS and the subsequent death of the uncle.
She said, “The people in my family called me and started asking me questions whether I was a witch and why I killed my uncle. I told them that I did not know anything about what they were talking about.
“They started beating me. They hit me with cutlasses. They cut my buttocks with knives.
“After the beating became too much, I lost consciousness. Later, I woke up to find myself in a bush. I have been living on the streets since last month without food and shelter.”
The second victim, Asua, from Oti Oro village, told our correspondent that his parents died a few weeks ago from strange ailments.
He said after the death of his parents, his uncles began to accuse him of killing them through wizardry.
He said, “My uncles told me that they went somewhere to find out why my parents died. They said they were told that I killed both of them through witchcraft. They tied my hands and started beating me up with native sugarcane and asked me to confess.
“When I insisted that I knew nothing about the death of my parents, they took me to a bush, where I met Odiong. Both of us have been living on the streets since then,” he said.
The Project Director, African Children Aid, Education and Development Foundation, Mr. Nsidibe Orok, said it was unfortunate that children were still branded as witches and wizards in a state that had put in place laws prohibiting the abuse of children.
He commended the state police command for responding to the plights of the hapless children.
He urged the police to investigate the matter with a view to bringing the culprits to book as a deterrent to others.
He, however, attributed the incident to ignorance and poverty. He advised religious organisations to educate the people more on the need to care and love little children.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Etim Dickson, said he had yet to be briefed. He promised to get back to our correspondent once he had information about the children.
But a police extract from the Okobo Police Division, signed by CSP Abdulkhadir Eljamal, and seen by our correspondent revealed that the children were picked up and brought to the station by volunteers of African Children Aid, Education and Development Foundation.
The children are currently receiving treatment at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital.
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