Richard Bartholomew has two stunning must read posts on the the children of Nigeria who are being tortured, killed, blamed, put into slavery and cast out of their families for being ‘witches.’

He links to a couple of group attempting to help these castaways many who are being imprisoned in pentecostal churches. He highlights groups such as CARN and Stepping Stones trying to help these children and the threats these groups face in challenging these churches and the culture.

The deeply held belief by the people of Akwa Ibom State and the Efik speaking communities in Cross River State cuts across all tiers of society. Widely read and travelled academics and local villagers fear such children. This fear stems from the belief that a spiritual spell can be given to a person through food and drink. The soul of the person who eats this spell will then leave the body to be initiated in a gathering of witches and wizards. The initiated person will then have the power to wreak havoc, such as causing diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, hepatitis, typhoid, cancer. All accidents, drunkenness mental health problems, smoking of marijuana, divorce, infertility, and misfortunes are seen to be the handiwork of witches and wizards. In recent times it is believed that children have become the target for initiation by the elderly witches as they are more susceptible to their spells and are quicker in action.

Stepping Stones:Causes:

Religious profiteering
Extreme poverty
Disintegration of the extended family structure
Ignorance and superstitious beliefs
Broken marriages

The role of the Church

Stepping Stones Nigeria does not wish to denounce any faith organisation. However the role of the church, especially some of the new Pentecostals, in spreading the belief in child witches cannot be underestimated. There are numerous so-called pastors in the region who are wrongly branding children as ‘witches’ mainly for economic self gain and personal recognition.

Sarah Palin who practices an aberrant political form of Pentecostalism called dominionism and Manifest Sons of Destiny was videotaped accepting a blessing from an African member of Peter C. Wagner’s apostle group. The Wagner Bishop, featured in an exaggerated Wagner spiritual warfare video Thomas Muthee prayed:

…that Sarah Palin be protected from witchcraft, and said that electing Sarah Palin would help keep witchcraft out of schools, and help right wing Christians invade and infiltrate the government. Throughout all this and more, Sarah Palin watched approvingly - and the video shows her accepting the holy protection from Alaska witches without even flinching once.’

This is clip from a film seen by millions of Africans produced by this minister: End of the Wicked Be warned, in the quest for power, money and numbers people such as Muthee and Ukpabio willfully propegrat the national child witch hysteria.
This clip is deeply disturbing and not for the faint of heart for these beliefs are being held and enforced by these churches and children are dying.

More at Talk2Action and Bruce Wilson: Sarah Palin’s Church and Third Wave
Bruce Wilson: Palin’s Movement urges Godly to plunder wealth of The Godless