Anja Ringgren Lovén first heard about it. As the founder of African Children’s Aid Education and Development Foundation, the Danish aid worker was no stranger to heartbreaking stories of children in the area.
“But when we heard that the child was only 2 to 3 years old, we did not hesitate,” she told reporters. “A child that young cannot survive a long time alone on the streets. We immediately prepared a rescue mission.”
Photo courtesy: Anja Ringgren Lovén
She and her team looked for the boy, and found him on the streets weak, dirty, and bone-thin. He also had worms.
Nigerian boy accused of being a witch
Anja gave the starving boy a sip of water, wrapped his naked body in a blanket, and took him in, naming him Hope.
The two-year-old boy had been abandoned by his parents because he was accused of being a witch. Belief in witchcraft is held across the world. In Nigeria, children are labeled witches to explain their family’s misfortune.
They face abuse and most of them run away or are abandoned.
“Many social and economic pressures, including conflict, poverty, urbanisation and the weakening of communities, or HIV/AIDS, seem to have contributed to the recent increase in witchcraft accusations against children,” UNICEF Regional Child Protection Adviser Joachim Theis said.
“Child witchcraft accusations are part of a rising tide of child abuse, violence and neglect, and they are manifestations of deeper social problems affecting society.”
Days after the boy’s rescue, Anja took to Facebook, saying Hope was doing better, and that he was now stable.
He was also receiving a daily blood transfusion to improve his red blood cell count, but he was still suffering from worms that were “giving him some pain.”
Photo courtesy: Anja Ringgren Lovén
With the help of thousands of people and their donations, Anja was able to get a doctor to help Hope in recovering.
But the battle is not won. Thousands of children are being accused of being witches, and not all of them will be saved from the harsh treatment of the world around them. The best we could do is raise awareness to issues like this.