My take on Helen Ukpabio

Warning! Below is my opinion.  I do not make a habit of typing things on this blog that I do not source.

I cannot stress enough that Christianity is a big religion.  Africa is a big continent.  Nigeria is a big place.  I am not trying to make any blanket statements. While I see similarities between Congolese witchcraft and the witchcraft in the Nigerian delta, I do not know enough to connect the two.  Like all religion, we cannot look at child witches myopically.

I don't think that anyone is saying that Lady Apostle Helen Ukpabio is a witch killer.  As far as I know, she has never directly harmed a child.  As far as I know, she does not charge for delivering children from witchcraft.  What is being alleged is much more broad.  Ukpabio presides over more than a hundred churches.  She produced several movies about child witches.  While she maintains that these movies are just as fictional as Harry Potter, I disagree. In the western world, witches and wizards are largely fictional characters.  J.K. Rowling does not believe in witchcraft.  In her book, she goes to great lengths to make her magic so fanciful that it cannot be replicated.  Can you find me an unicorn hair or a phoenix feather for your wand?  Unlike Rowling, Ukpabio believes in witchcraft.  She wrote a non-fiction work on how to identify child witches.  The comparison is not with Harry Potter, but with the Left Behind series.  In the Left Behind series, the authors write fiction that they believe to be representative of the facts.  Ukpabio says the movies are fiction, but she teaches the spiritual facts behind the fiction.

Because of her bloody movies about child witches and her broad ministry proclaiming child witches, she is being blamed for the majority of the child witch crisis. The fact of the matter is that child witches do not exist. She claims that these witches are harming people, but it is the make believe that harms people. She could be teaching them about modern medicine. She could be teaching people they should not be superstitiously scared of their own children. Instead she teaches that their child has the power to magically kill them. There is no reason that children should be taught that they are witches. This superstitious teaching is being used by people as an excuse to kill children.

Far from solving the problem, she travels the world blaming the problem on an atheist conspiracy.  Rightly she divines that her biggest opponents do not only not believe in mermaids and witchcraft. They deny the existence of God Himself.  As evangelical Christians this should outrage us, but not for the reasons that she suggests.  An area of the world that boasts allegedly the largest amount of churches proportional to the population is harming thousands of children.  Why should the atheists be front and center dealing with this problem?

Martin Robbins: The dangerous fight for the 'child witches' of Nigeria

"Unlike other ministries where witches and wizards are beaten or stoned to death, Liberty is the only Ministry that shows mercy to witches." So boast the Liberty Foundation Gospel Ministries, whose leader, Helen Ukpabio, is claimed to be one of Nigeria's leading 'deliverers' of witches - ministering to up to a thousand at a time.

Humanist campaigner Leo Igwe and other rational-minded people in West Africa take a rather dim view of branding children 'witches', and claim that in many cases deliverance is far from the serene and gentle experience it is claimed to be. According to Igwe and charities working in the region, children "are taken to churches where they are subjected to inhumane and degrading torture in the name of 'exorcism'. They are chained, starved, hacked with machetes, lynched or murdered in cold blood." Some are apparently bathed in acid.

Criticizing these churches is not a great idea if you value a hassle-free life. In 2009 around 200 of Ukpabio's Liberty followers stormed a meeting of humanists as Igwe prepared to speak, bringing the event to an abrupt and violent end. Fortunately the police were called and intervened, but Liberty immediately sued for $1.3m dollars, apparently incensed that a meeting critical of their activities was allowed by the authorities to go ahead. The case was swiftly dismissed by Justice P.J. Nneke at the Federal High Court in Calabar.

Unfortunately the authorities aren't always on the right side. Religious groups and powerful individuals can wield significant power and influence, especially in local communities, and even senior police officers and lawmakers may share their belief in witchcraft.

Regional leader Governor Akpabio recently caused alarm when - in spite of apparently taking steps to tackle the child witch issue - he abruptlyordered the arrest of officials working for NGOs like Stepping Stones Nigeria who are fighting child abuse in the region.

This was supposedly due to allegations of fraud, but NGOs have been successful in bringing the problem of child abuse to the attention of international media like CNN, and the Governor reacted badly to these reports, declaring them to be "part of the media propaganda against the state" and insisting that he had already resolved the problem. The suspicion of many campaigners is that those bringing attention to the problem may be seen as an inconvenience, an embarrassment, and a challenge to his authority.

No evidence of any fraud has been put forward, but Liberty's websitecontains an example of the sorts of smears and allegations that have been circulating against NGOs in Nigeria:

"Be informed that some organizations that don't believe in the existence of God called "HUMANIST" have formed organisations in the name of helping the Helpless Child of Africa from being molested. Stepping stone Nigeria is one of such Organisations, it has been investigated by the Nigerian Police and discovered that "Stepping stone Nigeria" is not REGISTERED anywhere in the world. It is used as an Internet SCAM to extort money from the people who are in sympathy with clips of tortured children by some wicked parents not necessaryingly on account of witchcraft. As at June ending Stepping stone Nigeria has made from the public fraudulently the sum of about One Million, Two Hundred Thousand Pounds sterling (£1.2M)"

The allegations are of course nonsense: in reality Stepping Stones are registered with the Charity Commission in the UK, and detailed accounts are filed there and posted on their own website.

Leo Igwe was due to give evidence to the Akwa-Ibom State Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft Accusations and Child Rights Abuses today, but found himself arrested and allegedly beaten before being released without charge. He described his ordeal to Sahara Reporters:

"It was a terrible encounter and it was premeditated going by the way they executed the plot to hold me accountable for "kidnapping;" my hands were tied behind me and they beat me mercilessly. [...] My head was swollen and I kept massaging it so that it does not become permanent; from Tuesday night to this morning I was kept incommunicado and had no contact with either my family or my lawyers."

The arrest comes straight after a series of similar incidents: Leo and his father were arrested on the 5th January, and his brother was taken into custody by the state security service a few days later. Regular arrests have become a feature of life for Leo and his family for some years, and campaigners regard them as a pattern of harassment related to his campaigning, and his pursuit of a powerful man living locally who is alleged to have raped a young girl.

Leo Igwe will continue to fight for the children of Nigeria, while theInternational Humanist and Ethical Union are putting pressure on regional authorities to try and bring an end to the arrests. Stepping Stones Nigeria have continue their work in the country in spite of the threat of arrest. All three deserve a lot of support.[1]

Helen Ukpabio - Her side of the story

In the video clip below children are possessed. One with the spirit of stubbornness,"lack of interest in school", bad company, and "power of destruction".  A man goes blind and a woman miscarries a child.  Critics of Lady Apostle Helen Ukpabio have accused her of using her 1999 movie, End of the Wicked, to scare parents into getting their child exorcised.



What does Ukpabio say today about all this?  In 2010 the New York Times asked her.

Their fellow villagers have often seen DVDs of “End of the Wicked,” Ms. Ukpabio’s bloody 1999 movie purporting to show how the devil captures children’s souls. And some have read her book “Unveiling the Mysteries of Witchcraft,” where she confidently writes that “if a child under the age of 2 screams in the night, cries and is always feverish with deteriorating health, he or she is a servant of Satan.”...

...“Do you think Harry Potter is real?” Ms. Ukpabio asked me angrily, in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Express where she was staying. “It is only because I am African,” she said, that people who understand that J. K. Rowling writes fiction would take literally Ms. Ukpabio’s filmic depictions of possessed children, gathering by moonlight to devour human flesh.[1]

Her defense is that End of the Wicked is fiction.  There are also those in her church that put together the following testimonial about three deliverances from their witchcraft.  (In parts of west Africa, witchcraft is a spirit that comes upon you.  One can be a witch, but not know it.  This spirit then uses its host to do evil natural and supernatural things.)

Supposedly Ukpabio does not maim or charge for her services.  According to her, where do these accusations come from?

Be informed that some organizations that don't believe in the existence of God called "HUMANIST" have formed organisations in the name of helping the Helpless Child of Africa from being molested. STEPPING STONE NIGERIA is one of such Organisations, it has been investigated by the Nigerian Police and discovered that"STEPPING STONE NIGERIA" is not REGISTERED anywhere in the world. It is used as an Internet SCAM to extort money from the people who are in sympathy with clips of tortured children by some wicked parents not necessaryingly on account of witchcraft. As at June ending STEPPING STONE NIGERIA has made from the public fraudulently the sum of about One Million, Two Hundred Thousand Pounds sterling (£1.2M)

Be informed that this amount of money is not even Taxed by any government of any country because of the lies that STEPPING STONE NIGERIA has been registered. Very recently security agents of Nigeria have declared Gary Foxcroft the head of the STEPPING STONE NIGERIA and Itauma of CRARN WANTED on account of Fraud, Piracy, forgeries, and threat to life of Lady Apostle Helen Ukpabio.

It is also discovered that Gary Foxcroft is a frontline member ofHUMANIST MOVEMENT who don't believe in the existence of God and of Devil.

They hide behind this movement to solicit for funds from the public using innocent children who are never witches to campaign in order to weep sentiment and sympathy. We all know that when there is anything about children abandonment, stigmatisation, torture and death the whole world will respond because the child is Helpless. This is where Gary Foxcroft and Itauma has won the heart of many. the truth is Humanism simply means ATHEISM. This group says there is no God in Heaven and Helen Ukpabio says there is God in existence and that very POWERFUL. This is the God Helen that Helen is worshipping who has called and empowered her. This group is sponsored by Godswill Akpabio, Akwa Ibom State Governor. The whole world is sponsoring Gary Foxcroft and Itauma to spread their belief "Humanism" [2]

OK, to sum up she is being defamed by those cheating, lying, stealing atheists.  

Humanists and Nigerian Witches

One of the interesting things about the Nigerian witch hunters is that they have been combated by a group of humanists.  These humanists do not believe in the gospel, but they also do not believe in witchcraft.  They are in an unique position to persuade parents that their children are not witches.  However they have been persecuted for their attempts.

Nigerian Humanists have won the latest round in an ongoing battle with witch hunters. Today, 4 Feb. 2010, the Federal High Court in Calabar struck out the case brought against Leo Igwe, International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) Representative in West Africa, by Helen Ukpabio of the Liberty Gospel Church. 

In November last year, Ukpabio went to court claiming that conferences organised by the Nigerian Humanist Movement to tackle witchcraft related abuses infringed on her right to spread the gospel. She asked the court to order the child rights campaigners to pay her two hundred billion naira (1.3 billion US dollars) as damages for “infringement of their rights.” 

“The Church instituted this court action to stop their arrest and prosecution for the attack of July 29 in Calabar,” said Igwe, referring to a physical assault on him last year. About 200 members of the Liberty Gospel Church disrupted an anti-witch hunt conference that Igwe organized in July 2009. (Video of the attack is available here: http://www.iheu.org/iheu-representative-attacked.) The conference highlighted the role of Liberty Gospel Church in ‘trials’ of children suspected of being witches. Many children have been killed after having been found guilty by such ‘trials.’ IHEU has raised the issue of witch hunts in many international forums, including the United Nations Human Rights Council and the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights. 

Ukpabio and her lawyers were not in court. So the lawyer leading the defence team, Barrister Madaki, asked the court to strike out the case due lack of diligent prosecution. And the court granted his request. 

“The striking out of this case is a welcome development,” said Igwe. “It is a victory for justice, human rights and the rule of law in Nigeria. The Nigerian Humanist Movement and its partner groups will continue to work and campaign to eradicate all forms of human rights abuses in the name of witchcraft.”[1]

More on the Nigerian Humanist Movement:

The Nigerian Humanist Movement was founded in 1996 to promote Humanism, defend secularism and provide a sense of community to all non-religious and freethinking Nigerians - atheists, skeptics, rationalists, agnostics and freethinkers. Nigeria is a deeply religious society. And in most cases people relate, interact and marry along religious lines. Religious affiliation becomes a decisive factor when one is seeking employment, doing a business or wants to be admitted into a school or university. Those who do not profess any religion are treated as second class citizens. So in Nigeria most non-religious people are in the closet. They lack any association or community they can call their own. The rights of non-religious people are not recognized. The voice and interests are not represented at public debates and discourse. So NHM was formed to fulfill this important need- to defend the rights and interests of Humanists and the general public and to realize a Humanistic society....  

Since its inception NHM has taken part in several campaigns against anti-personnel landmines, child labor, female genital mutilation, ritual killing, witchcraft, caste discrimination, shari’a law and homophobia.[2]