07 Dec 2008 |
|
Henry Omoregie Nigerians woke up one morning to read on the numeous news sources available in today's information superhighway about the atrocities meted out to near-infants under the guise of witch-hunting. Pathetic. Gory. Ignoble. Condemnable and bla bla bla! Yes the act was pathetic, gory and all that. But if secrets could be let out by many a victim, this type of occurence is common place in many homes professing extreme 'Born Again-ism' in different forms in Nigeria. I have seen marriages take a miserable turn for hitherto happily married couples just because a 'prophet' saw something untoward in his dream. I have seen young adolescents beaten to pulp while their hands and legs are tied together because they were caught watching worldly movies full of sin. Yes here in Nigeria! Thats just a tip of the iceberg. Children of decision-making age (18+) are deprived of care and attention because they changed churches from the ones their parents worshipped. Threats of non-payment of school fees to outright evictions from homes have been experienced by many victims who are suffering silently without knowing who to report to. The Reverend King episode is still clear in Nigerians' memories. What is all these for God's sake? To worsen matters, cultural values hinder these victims to report to the authorities about their satanic experiences in the hands of parents, guardians, room-mates, friends, fellow worshippers and relatives. How can you tell someone that your father or mother is trying to kill you? Very few will believe, especially if they have had good and loving parental relationships. It is also appaling to note the educational level of these perpertrators of the wicked acts. These same people head top positions in companies and are elders in church! I have heard of physical ailments being refered to spiritual healing homes (even when Christ asserted that He came not for flesh and blood) instead of seeking medical assistance. At the end the victims die and the blame is quickly and easily shifted to satan. In the United States of America one Reverend and the parents of an 11 year old were jailed for similar misbehaviour. Only God knows how many deaths, avoidable deaths, have been recorded as a result of things like these. Until we learn to give what is Caesar's to Caesar, we will have many more of these secret killings. Until the social welfare system gets its act together, backed by statutory covering from the legislature, there will be many more deaths and misery from the likes of the Akwa Ibom witch-hunter and the Reverend Kings of this world!
|
|||||||||
# 
Your Comments
Please make The Square an enjoyable experience for everyone by refraining from gratuitous ad-hominem contributions, defamatory comments and off-topic posting. Such posts will be removed.