Little skinny boy accused of witchcraft rescued in Nigeria
A scared, emaciated and naked Nigerian child was found and rescued by a Danish aid worker, eight months after he was abandoned to his fate by his family, who accused him of being a witch. During the past eight months, the worm-ridden boy, who is now called Hope, slept rough and scavenged on whatever he could find on every nook and cranny of streets in a town in the southern Nigerian state of Akwa Ibom.
“When we heard that the child was only two to three years old we did not hesitate. A child that young cannot survive a long time alone on the streets. We immediately prepared a rescue mission,” said Anja Ringgren Lovén, the founder of the African Children's Aid Education and Development Foundation.
After a few days of nutritional and medical treatment, Hope, who is now being cared for by Anja, attained a stable condition, but he needed blood transfusion and an urgent treatment for his worms.
According to Anja, thousands of Nigerian children are accused of practicing witchcraft and rejected by their families.
“I travelled alone to Nigeria where I met children who had been tortured and beaten almost to death because they were accused of being witches and therefore left alone on the street,” she said, adding that “education is the key in the fight against superstition.”
Nigeria has a growing economy but the proportion of Nigerians living in poverty is increasing every year. Poverty leads to the lack of education, which in turn fuels superstitions. The country also has a hard time fighting the Boko Haram terrorist group, which is wreaking havoc in its northern regions.
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