In what may best be described as a wild goose chase the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft Accusations and Child Abuses raised by the Akwa Ibom State government, has jetted into the clouds, shifting its operational base from Uyo, the state capital, to London.
Exactly what impact the trip will make to the issue of child witch stigmatization that is supposedly being investigated by the panel is unclear.
SaharaReporters gathered that the panel, which was established by Governor Akpabio recently to intervene and save children accused of witchcraft may also implement one of his famous threats to ‘deal with’ child the rights activists who drew the attention of the world to the state’s gory details of child torture, killings and abuses practiced. Our source said the panel obtained Akpabio’s approval for the trip, which has no conceivable benefit to the vulnerable children the commission is supposed to serve.
Although the cost of the foreign foray by the commission could not immediately be ascertained, a conservative estimate of $100,000, before estacodes, was given by a source in Akpabio’s cabinet. The source further told SaharaReporters that the Commission is being rewarded with the trip in exchange for doing the governor’s bidding.
The Commission will spend one week in London, ostensibly to listen to the testimony of a United Kingdom based charity organisation, Stepping Stones Nigeria (SSN), which has been accused by Akwa Ibom government of exaggerating the child witch syndrome in Akwa Ibom, as well as fraud.
It would be recalled that Akpabio ordered the arrest of the officials of SSN and Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network in September 2010 during a radio phone-in programme. Reacting to a news report by Cable News Network (CNN), he accused the NGO of exaggerating the child witch syndrome in the state for monetary gain. Akpabio reportedly promised that “Heads will roll” even before the panel was contemplated.
Observers see the London trip as a waste of the public funds that would have been better channeled into the welfare of the some 178 children in the ‘shelter’ of the government, a fact that was previously unknown to the public. In comparison, 1,500 abandoned children are in the care of privately run orphanages within the state, which means that the state spends the available funds only on the few children in its secret shelter.
Only recently, the commission uncovered embarrassing details when it visited the Special Children’s centre on IBB way in Uyo, finding the children in deplorable conditions. The children showed obvious signs of being malnourished, and the members of the panel were forced by the offensive odour emanating from the centre to leave the premises.
The judicial panel has received testimonies from more than 60 witnesses summoned to appear before it including children, parents, community leaders, United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF), churches, government officials and NGOs. Its report is being anxiously awaited by stakeholders and child rights advocate within and outside the country.
