In the past ten years, thousands of children alleged to be witches and wizards have been tortured, thrown out, abandoned or killed by their family members in Cross River and Akwa Ibom States (Nigeria).  This month, AAI affiliate Nigerian Humanist Movement and a UK based non governmental organisation, the Stepping Stones Nigeria are organizing a symposium on witchcraft. The aim of the program is to highlight the abuses of child rights that take place in Nigeria due to this traditional belief. The event is part of wider efforts being made by both organisations to combat the persecution of children in the name of witchcraft.

Some of the 'child witches' were chained, starved, matcheted, forced to roam the streets, sleep in the bush and scanvenge for food. In most cases this was after they had been taken to the so called pastors or men and women of God who identified them as witches. This symposuim aims at underscoring the role of these false prophets in spreading the belief of wichcraft. It will explore ways of bringing the unscrupulous pastors to book. It is encouraging to note that there are some pastors that do not support witch persecution and killing. This program is meant to join forces with them in tackling this shameful and embarrassing development. The event will also be an opportunity to educate the public about the dangers of the belief in witchcraft and other superstitions. Belief in witches and wizards is superstitious. And not all superstitions are innocuous. Misconceptions informed by fear and ignorance have negative, harmful and destructive effects.

Beliefs without evidence are confusing and misleading. They can make people victimize others. They can cause people to attack, persecute and murder innocent persons. Beliefs without evidence can lead people to accuse, convict and punish others for crimes they never committed. This is the case with witchcraft. For instance the belief is that the so called child witches have magical powers which they use to inflict evil on fellow human beings. These innocent kids are blamed for whatever goes wrong in their families They are regarded as architects of evil or misfortune. And  persecuting, abandoning and killing them is considered an appropriate way to get rid of these evil incarnates. Most often our christian friends refer to Exodus 22:18 -and other scriptural verses-which says 'Suffer not a witch to live' to justify witch killing. It is important to note that witches and wizards are imaginary entities. They do not have any real existence.

Witches exist only in the minds of the believers. So the mistake past generations of witch hunters made and the present generation in Nigeria is making is to think that witches are real entities, with real powers and can inflict real harm on people.

These child witches are believed to be responsible for deaths, accidents, business failure, diseases, infertility, child birth difficulties, etc Meanwhile, these are problems that have natural and commonsensical explanations and/or solutions.  The belief is that these child witches turn to birds, rats, cats or insects or take up some spiritual form in most cases at night to go and suck blood and terrorrize persons or carry out nefarious activities. Why this belief is -and remains strong in Nigeria is still a surprise to me. No one has ever come forward to prove how a human being can tranform into another animal or insect to inflict harm on others, apart from the hearsay, occult stories handed down from past generatins and the ritualistic abracadabra we see on home videos and nollywood films.

Obviously witchcraft is an extraordinary claim that requires an extraordinary proof. That is why the belief needs to be critically examined. That is why we need to ask questions. We need to investigate and find out  in which way a human being can tranform into a bird. Does it mean that the hands will change and turn to wings and the hairs become feathers? Which principle is responsible for this unprincipled metamorphosis. Sometimes people point to the confessions made by alleged witches. Unfortunately nobody has bothered to know the mental state of these confessors. And again confession is not corroboration. In some parts of Edo state witch confession is taken to be therapeutic. So whenever people are ill for a long time they are asked by their family members to confess so that they would be healed. And sometimes they do! So the belief in witchcraft does not make sense at all. It is absurd, baseless, primitive and nonsensical.Belief in witchcraft lacks any justification in reason science and common sense. But why this primitive superstition still makes sense to most Nigerians in this 21st century is what I find difficult to understand.

Or better it is because fear, ignorance and blind faith are the forces that rule, drive and dominate the minds of Nigerians. The epidemc of witchcraft accusation and persecution is a manifestation of the intellectual rot and cultural decay in Nigeria. This sumposium is a welcome development and should be taken to all parts of the country, to all our scholls, colleges and universities, to all churches and mosques.

Witchcraft related abuses persist in Nigeria because there has not been a properly coordinated awareness campaign to get Nigerians to understand that witchcraft is superstition and that witches and wizards are imaginary entities. Unfortunately Nigerians go through life believing in witchcraft and blaming witches and wizards for their problems.

Unfortunately, in their families and schools, in the churches and mosques, in the media and films, Nigerians are made to believe that witches are real and that witchcraft is effective. So Nigerians need programs to educate and enlighten them to abandon this primitive belief. Let's all join hands to tackle and eradicate the accusation, stigmatization and persecution of our children in the name of witchcraft.

Leo Igwe lives in ibadan.