Above, an excerpt of the Christian horror movie 'End of the Wicked' by the wealthy and prominent Nigerian evangelical 'prophetess' Helen Ukpabio. In an expose that aired last night, filmmakers visited a village where everyone had seen the film, and where a girl has been ostracised for witchcraft. The locals are outraged when the child is brought back into the village, one man smiling as he tells us "I want to kill that small girl."
The Daily Telegraph reports, "ten years ago there were few cases of children stigmatised by witchcraft. But since then the numbers have grown at an alarming rate and have reached an estimated 15,000 in Akwa Ibom state alone."
Salaam writes: Obviously, one of the important issues to me when I named my site "Progressive Islam" was the problem of extremist deviance in the deen. However, one of the difficulties is that such a focus can create the appearance of there being an exceptional issue with extremism in this religion. The imbalance in coverage, if unaddressed, can spread dishonesty and can serve the goals of Islamophobes.
So I feel it is important to also cover stories that show that extremist deviancy is an interfaith problem, and that the heavy US media coverage of Islamic extremism, while understandable given 9/11, is arbitrary and selective.
So I'm interested in stories like this one not to divert attention from the ills of Islam, but to balance the coverage and diminish the possibility that someone could come away from this site with an impression of Islam exceptionalism in extremism.
And of course, I'm interested because it is the moral thing to do to try to draw attention to this and thereby contribute to the beginning of a movement that will confront this evil and end it.
The story is also noteworthy because the Pentacostal fanatics that are at fault here participate in the same Christianist movement that Sarah Palin follows, who very nearly became the second most powerful person in America.
Parents sometimes attack, torture and kill their own children when they become convinced they are witches.
Richard Bartholomew writes: Last night Channel 4 broadcast Saving Africa's Witch Children, as part of its Dispatches strand. The programme focused on children accused of being witches by Pentecostal pastors in Akwa Ibom state in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria, and the work of the Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network. Several pastors were featured, including Helen Ukpabio, who has featured on this blog several times in the past, most recently here. The problem makes for grim viewing: we see children who have been horribly mutilated, and in one case left brain damaged after having had a nail driven through her skull; others appear withdrawn and tearful after being rejected by their families and threatened. We also see the hostility of aggressive and angry adults against the charity workers who challenge the witch teaching and offer support to children living rough.
The first pastor we meet is the rolex-wearing Bishop Sunday Ulup-Aya, who makes children drink a strange "poision destroyer" medicine made up of "African mercury", his own blood, and pure alcohol. He explains, in a jerky and giggling manner, that
I have power here on earth that is bound in heaven...I killed up to 110 people who was identified to be a witch...We have 2.3 million witches and wizards in Akwa Ibom.
His services cost "400,000?.
Also featured are Prophetess Cecilia Udoyeo and Franklin Udoeyo, of the Covenant Global Mission. They have a group of subdued children in a room at the back of their church; the prophetess tells us that
In the night we have to tarry [i.e. fight] with them, so they may not go to the coven, so we have to tarry with them until it is 5 and we know they cannot move again. The Spirit of God has overwhelmed them. That is why we will allow them to sleep by daytime.
Franklin adds, regarding one girl:
She has grown up to a level of becoming a Queen in the coven, so one day the lord helped me I was able to remove the crown, her power was removed.
The girl now sleeps in Franklin's bedroom. Some of the children have been living at the church for three years.
Ukpabio herself is then featured, and we are treated to scenes from her Christian horror film End of Wicked, which shows witch children eating human flesh, flying around, and making an man's eyes pop out. In 2000 only a few children were ever accused of witchcraft, but the upsurge since then - there are frequent arrivals at CRARN's shelter - is blamed by a local community leader, Chief Victor Emet, on Ukpabio and her film. The filmmakers also visit a village where everyone has seen the film, and where a girl has been ostracised for witchcraft. The locals are outraged when the child is brought back into the village, one man smiling as he tells us "I want to kill that small girl".
