Child Witches Being Murdered

As we all know Africa is considered the toilet bowl of the world. Africa is known around the globe for its diseases, poverty stricken people, famine, warfare, blood diamonds and now according to churches in Nigeria…witches! It seems that witch mania is taking over Nigeria as recent reports have seen parents attempting to perform exorcism’s on their children by pouring acid down their throats.

Anyone who enjoys a good horror film has undoubtedly seen the Exorcism of Emily Rose, something I hold dear to my heart considering this true story takes place in the state of Minnesota. However, the point of an exorcism is to remove the devil from the person in which he inhabits, not to murder them. Exorcisms are performed with the idea that the infected soul can and will be cured. These ‘witch’ cases are being taken to the extreme by churches in Africa and pastors are actively killing innocent children. Children who appear to be witches or possessed by the devil are being tortured as well as murdered at the ripe, you age of only nine.

Reports are claiming that near 200 murders have been conducted on these ‘witches’, which of nearly half have been done by rogue pastors and churches. It’s important to note that these churches are renegade local branches where the word of God is commonly taken out of context and acted on irrationally. What is most shocking in these cases is that the parents of these children are active participants in the murder and exorcism. How is this humanly possible that one’s own flesh and blood could willingly participate in the brutal murder of a young, innocent child? The answer is quite simply and lies heavily in the fact that food, water and clothing are of the utmost scarcity in these cultures. If a mother or father loses their child, it actually means that they have one less hungry mouth to feed and almost puts children on the same level as dirt.

As this story has clearly hit the national limelight, it will be interesting to see whether or not UNICEF or other humanitarian organizations try to intervene as this is starting to look like the beginning stages of genocide on a smaller level. Despite the fact that these murders are not being conducted by a government, which is all but non-existent in Africa, religious principals are being used to justify the killing of innocent people. It will be interesting to see how the world reacts to these incredibly sad accounts of murder as we come home this evening and look in our own kids eyes and wonder how or why!