There is an epidemic in Africa that has not been covered much by the mainstream media. Thousands of Nigerian children are accused of being witches by religious pastors. As a result, they are the victims of horrendous torture through exorcisms. In most cases, the children are murdered by their own family members.
The kids who become victims of the bloody exorcisms are usually poor, orphaned, or disabled. Often times, the families that these children come from are so financially disadvantaged that they feel relieved to have one less mouth to feed.
The witch accusations come as a result of a recent religious boom in the country. There has been a rapid growth of Evangelical Christianity in Nigeria, and because of this, churches outnumber schools, clinics, and banks put together. According to the Huffington Post, it's hard for churches to carve out a congregation with so much competition. So some pastors establish their credentials by accusing children of witchcraft.
Unfortunately, the lack of education leads people in Africa to believe in the superstitions.
"When communities come under pressure, they look for scapegoats," said Martin Dawes, a spokesperson for the United Nations Children's Fund. "It plays into traditional beliefs that someone is responsible for a negative change...and children are defenseless."
How prevalent are these witchcraft accusations in Nigeria? In the past decade more than 15,000 children have been denounced as witches in 2 of Nigeria's 36 states. Around 1,000 of them became victims of murder because of this epidemic.
Some of the children are set on fire, buried alive, beaten with sticks, and forced to drink acid during the exorcisms. Family members find themselves bankrupt after paying their life savings to have religious pastors beat the "witch" out of their children.
Sam Itauma of the Children's Rights and Rehabilitation Network runs a home for children who have been victims of this cruelty. When he first began the organization, it housed seven children. Now it has 120-200 victims at any given time.
This story perfectly illustrates how dangerous an absence of education can be. People are easily manipulated when they are void of facts. When a society is accustomed to superstition and unexposed to reality, innocent people become victims of unbelievable practices.
Comments
My heart and prayers goes out to all of them. How sad and tragic!
Very sad. :'( You're so right, Ana; rational information provides freedom from superstition. Alright Gates Foundation, a HUGE influx of all-age community learning centers, libraries with literacy programs, and free internet cafes are desperately needed in these areas!!!!
I think that you defination of education is too limited, having been to Uganda, tradtionaly education as we see it in the devloped world is not definateley the best answer. Education can be teaching people new farming techniques, or teaching them about how to prevent STI's. Until the defination of education is cleare then it is hard to decide what they are missing. But apart from that, a great article and the undelrying point is right.
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