Patience Amos Johnson, a 30 year old prophetess residing in the Eket area of Akwa Ibom has tried to burn Mmenyene Christopher Eyo, an 11 year old boy to death, stating that he was possessed by witchcraft.
Christopher Awakessien Eyo, the father of the child has been arrested along with the prophetess after he gave the prophetess permission to burn the boy.
Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Dr. Glory Emmanuel Edet, disclosed this to Vanguard yesterday. She called on parents to love their children as they were rare gifts from God.
The boy, Mmenyene narrated his story as follows:
His ordeal started when he woke up one morning and narrated a dream he had the previous night of how he saw himself in the midst of people and was given biscuit to eat. He narrated the dream to his paternal grand-mother.
“The old woman immediately told the boy’s father, who simply reached a conclusion that it was wizardry which must be promptly dealt with. And as part of the treatment, Mmenyene’s father locked him up in an unused toilet for days without food, from where he took him to a church in Okopedi.
“From Okopedi, I was taken to the Light of God Ministry, Okon Eket in Eket LGA, where I was allegedly given olive oil and other mixtures to drink by the prophetess in a bid to make me confess to witchcraft.
“When this failed, the prophetess poured kerosene on me from a lantern in the church, from my neck down to the lower parts of my body, struck a match and set me ablaze.
“The prophetess then instructed my father to take me away after I had been burnt. I was taken back to Nsit Ibom and locked up again in the unused toilet in the compound for many days without food.
“It was at this point that my younger brother, Samuel Christopher Eyo, also dubbed a wizard raised alarm and alerted neighbours, who now called in the police. The Police swung into action by breaking into the toilet to rescue me and arrested both culprits.
“My step-mother, who was aware of my ordeal, never came to my rescue. Instead, she accused me of being responsible for the death of her child”
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