The relatives of two 8-year-old children,identified as Mary Odiong and Master Ekong Asua from the Okobo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State have tormented and sent the duo packing from their homes over claims that they practiced witchcraft.
This was made known by the victims on Thursday, October 9, 2014 in a chat with a press officer.
According to Punch reports, the first victim, Odiong 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.”
Furthermore, the other victim, Asua, from Oti Oro village, disclosed that she lost her parents to an unknown sickness few weeks ago.He added that following his parent’s death, his uncles became suspicious of him and subsequently accused him of practicing wizardry through which he allegedly killed his parents.
In his words, “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.
Reacting to this development, the Project Director of African Children Aid, Education and Development Foundation, Mr. Nsidibe Orok, expressed disappointment on children being accused for witch craft despite the fact that the state has enacted a law that forbids child abuse.
Meanwhile, he applauded police division in the state for their timely intervention on the matter urging them to carry out proper investigations in order that the perpetrators of the heinous act would be duly punished as a warning to other members of the state who still have that mentality.
Moreover, he held a view that the case was as a result of ignorance and poverty.
Orok further appealed to religious organizations to help teach people more about love for children.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Etim Dickson, said he knew nothing about the case although he promised to get back to the media personnel as soon as he is informed.
However, a police extract from the Okobo Police Division, signed by CSP Abdulkhadir Eljamal, revealed that it was some volunteers of African Children Aid, Education and Development Foundation that found the children and took them to the police station.
Also, it was learnt that the victims are currently receive intensive care at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital.
