Witchcraft in Nigeria

This is from Jan who is in charge of AfricanCrisis. Seems like this dark art should be long gone from our world. It is quite clear that 'our world' is not Africa's world.We have vodoo in our part of the world and this is not too far removed from witchcraft. What is really sad and striking is that the children are often times roped right into going along with this nasty business from the darkside. I know the obama withch doctor picture is pushing it a bit as he is not from Nigeria. BUT, the mullah obamaham was also not born in the United States. Where is the proof? That is a story for another time.


"The assertion "Nigeria is a very religious country", is heavily supported and justified by the stupendously huge and increasing number of religious places of worship (especially churches) in every nook and cranny of the nation. The underlying question, however, is how genuine are most of these spiritual homes?


Religion and the worship of God or gods is not a forbidden practice. On the contrary, it is the responsibility of every human to reverence and worship his creator. Nevertheless, the avaricious and invariably occultist foundation on which some of these institutions are established is what gives cause for alarm.


Witchcraft is said to be the practice of sorcery, usually with the aid of, or through the medium of an evil spirit. It is no longer news that this practice is growing to be immensely connected or interwoven with religion in Nigeria."

---

Nigeria: Witchcraft - A Rising Trend
By Ogenyi Lewis

A society totally devoid of diabolic acts and evils is hard to come by, but attention must be paid to the growing trend of witchcraft in Nigeria. OGENYI LEWIS writes.

The assertion "Nigeria is a very religious country", is heavily supported and justified by the stupendously huge and increasing number of religious places of worship (especially churches) in every nook and cranny of the nation. The underlying question, however, is how genuine are most of these spiritual homes?

Religion and the worship of God or gods is not a forbidden practice. On the contrary, it is the responsibility of every human to reverence and worship his creator. Nevertheless, the avaricious and invariably occultist foundation on which some of these institutions are established is what gives cause for alarm.

Witchcraft is said to be the practice of sorcery, usually with the aid of, or through the medium of an evil spirit. It is no longer news that this practice is growing to be immensely connected or interwoven with religion in Nigeria.

One may have cause to wonder how the genesis or the factor responsible for Nigerians' high level of spirituality came about. A critical examination of the issue will seemingly reveal that extreme hardship and poverty informed the proliferation of churches and other spiritual homes that promise their congregation relief from their hardships in the name and power of the religions' relative God or gods. In a bid to fulfill the promises made to their followers - which is important in securing teeming followership - they resort to occult and demonic schemes to facilitate their 'miraculous' power claims.

Chief Godswill Akpabio, Governor of Akwa Ibom State, one of the states said to be affected the most, has expressed his anger over the trend and promised to "destroy and demolish every church that is engaged in any stupid vision in Akwa Ibom State."

The desperation of some of these spiritual homes encourage them to conduct 'deliverance' programmes, especially for children purported to be witches during which they are severely flogged in a bid to rid them of the 'evil spirit' they are allegedly possessed of, all in the effort to bolster their credibility. The aftermath of this is clearly, the discrimination and humiliating treatment these children receive from the society.

Religious establishments are not the only guilty party in the business of flirting with diabolic practices, in the name of getting rich quick. Armed robbers, kidnappers, blood money ritualists, cultists and even business men and women also acquire charms from occult specialist (who reside in remote places where they have more liberty to operate) to facilitate their endeavours usually at the expense of other innocent people.

The sudden explosion of the menace of kidnapping in Nigeria is excruciating, and perhaps, the reason why the teeming culprits keep eluding the authorities is the regular support they get from consulting spiritualists, making them somewhat invincible in carrying out heir activities. Although the police have no excuse, their shortcomings as their obligation is to protect the society at all cost.

Most polygamous families, where a man has two or more wives, tend to suffer invariably from the effect and hazards of these diabolical practices. Women in this kinds of marriage, more often than not, harbour the notion that they must have an edge, one way or the other, over their counterparts, and a situation where every wife gets equal attention is unacceptable. This belief instigates them to indulge in evil practices which may involve charming their husbands, so as to secure his undivided attention and consequently causing the other wives to run out of favour and privileges. The rivalry, most of the time, extends to the children who are also willing to participate in the physical and spiritual battle, as it is not uncommon to find in these families, insane and wayward children, deaf and dumb, handicaps, and strange and untimely deaths. These circumstances are usually the product and effect of witchcraft.

In Nigeria today, there are still villages and communities that live without basic amenities like pipe borne water, electricity and good roads. The fact that modern educational activities are not popular in these communities too, apparently, does more harm than good, as residents of these villages subscribe to diabolical ways in order to suit or better their situation and plight. On the other hand, students in the urban areas graduate from school and find themselves making longer the already long queue of unemployed people and as a result, these idle men and women's minds become very susceptible to being the devil's workshop.

Combating witchcraft may not be an item in the agenda of the government, but it is obvious that a majority of crimes committed in Nigeria is either assisted by or connected with witchcraft. Therefore, it is of supreme importance for every Nigerian, whether or not they are associated with the government, to ensure that our society is devoid of perpetrators of such practices by aiding the police and other related bodies in apprehending offenders. In the same vein, the masses regardless of their woes, should try as much as possible to tread in the path of steadfastness which is always rewarded in due course, bearing in mind that evil begets evil returns.

Original date published: 8 August 2010

Source Url: http://allafrica.com/stories/201008090941.html?viewall=1