Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Abuja (Agenzia Fides) - The Nigerian NGO Child's Right and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN), welcomed over 160 children labeled as "witches". Dozens of children suffer abuses, are abandoned and even killed by their families for this reason, in a nation still largely steeped in superstition. According to a representative of CRARN, many people believe that children are possessed by demons and that no kind of exorcism can free them from evil. Often, because of this stigma, these innocent victims suffer physical and verbal abuse. Some are abandoned by their families, others are found with nails embedded in their skull after being accused of witchcraft. The leaders of local Christian churches in communion with the intent of Nigerians animists, are waging a campaign against this phenomenon. The ministers of religion, ironically, say that the child-witch is the bearer of destruction, disease and death in his/her family, as well as having the ability to cast spells and contaminate others, once possessed. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 30/01/2012)
