Eighteen months ago, the UK newspaper Observer ran this story about child abuse in Akwa Ibom. Children were being branded as "witches" prior to being beaten (sometimes severely) and abandoned by their parents.
The report (and a television documentary) atracted enough foreign attention that the governments (federal and state) reacted. Akwa Ibom state
Today, there is a report in NEXT, about a strange and violent raid on the premises of a charity taking care of these children. The charity accuse the police of being behind the raid (which put two children in the hospital), and the police deny it.
Pay attention to the comments of the lawyer of one of the pastors, and also of the description of the raiders given by the man who runs the charity. The lawyer seems to imply police participation, while the charity boss's description hints this could be a random robbery/assault as happens in Nigeria (and elsewhere in the world).
Either way, this incident must be investigated fully. Alas, who do you trust to conduct that investigation?
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