I have been following the Akwa Ibom child witch phenomenon for some time now. unfortunately the only time i mentioned their plight on this blog was in reference to Maduekwe's incredible denial of their existence. For more information and the organization that seeks to protect our society's most vulnerable members, Child's Right and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN), I would check out the following posts from members of the Nigerian blogosphere...

naijablog - has been following the story since 2007
bellanaija - her personal take on the situation
Nigerian Health Watch - a more recent piece on the CRARN attacks

Fortunately, the children of CRARN are taking matters into their own hands, peacefully, and protesting police brutality against the children and staff members. See the article here. Inspiring. However, I went to the comments and found that one particular fellow seemed to deny the existence of maltreatment of these children. Of course I reacted (hopefully 234NEXT will publish my comments soon). However, I began to wonder, beyond Maduekwe, how widespread is this attempt on the part of Nigerians to close their eyes to the horrible "child witch" phenomenon in Akwa Ibom? I have talked primarily to my fellow Naijamericans here who do believe that such is happening and needs to be addressed promptly (however, I have noted that many have used it as a platform to rehash their horrid stereotypes about the perceived backward-ness of some ethnic groups in the South-South - to which I whole-heartedly disagree with....).

Anyway, it may be my naivete....but how and why would someone read about the plight of these innocents and then figure that such news is not real? Am I missing something?

victims....

Few months ago, the world was abuzz with the outing of the heinous crimes occurring against mere children deemed as witches in Akwa Ibom. For more on this subject click here. I think it was generally agreed upon that driving nails through the skulls of adolescents and young people in efforts to rid them of the devil is not the most humane route.

Fortunately, Akwa Ibom, after much international and local uproar took a stand against such acts and prosecuted perpetrators of such acts. Strangely enough, we did not hear from the federal government until now.

Our good friend failed-Transportation-minister-turned-foriegn-affairs-minister finally provided the world with the Nigerian government's reaction to the plight of these children. These children, who suffered very tangible physical and psychological bruises from their ordeals, were PAID, yes paid to admit they were tortured, reports NEXT from the Universal Periodical Review session on Nigeria. From a previous post and comments I have made on other blogs, I am sure you can tell that I am not his biggest fan (and that horrendous striped Kangol cap doesn't help matters either). However, this latest admission trumps all - it reflects his blatant disregard for the basic human rights of communities less-privileged than those he may find himself in. His statement is analogous to blaming the rape vicitm for his/her rape or rather denying those very real events. It is because of people like Chief Ojo Maduekwe, "O Gbu Umuntakiri I" of Nigeria that victims remain victims.

Under normal circumstances, Yar'adua should have him sacked as the spokesperson of Nigeria to the outside world....but then again, the case of Nigeria is not a normal circumstance.