Not fewer than 40 children in Abuja were rescued from ‘Child Torture Chamber’ operated by a self-styled witch doctor allegedly used for exorcism of witchcraft spirit from kids.
The operatives of the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) at the weekend who carried out the rescue mission said parents and guardians took the children ranging between five and seven years to the said witch doctor, one Mr. Ezekiel Ikoh, at the Torture Clinic in Maraba, Abuja.
According to them, persons suspected to be working in partnership with the witch doctor would hypnotise the parents and guardians to take their children to the chamber for exorcism of witchcraft.
The children were then chained and tortured severally with several dangerous implements to confess that they are witches or wizards. This is after parents or guardians of the children have been made to part away with sums of money ranging from N50, 000 to N100, 000,” NAPTIP asserted.
Unidentified sources said the alleged witch doctor has raked in not less than N10 million from unsuspecting members of the public within the last two months.
It was further gathered that alleged native doctor after maltreating the children through starvation and beating to a point of death sometimes would force the kids to confess of being witches after which they would be ‘cured’ and handed over to their guardians.
The said Ezekiel (witch doctor), a native of Akoh village in Nasarawa state said to have been in the business for several months has been handed over to the police for investigation.
Officials of NAPTIP who confirmed the story noted that the rescued children had been moved to a facility where they would undergo medical tests to ascertain the level of torture they were subjected to and the impact of their mental state before they could be re-integrated.
