JREF Swift Blog

Evangelical Churches and the Epidemic of Witchcraft Accusations - Part 2

For part 1 of this article, click here.

In this video, the pastor with an image of Jesus on his robe went into a trance. Claiming to be speaking in the voice of the Holy Spirit, he said that the two children were possessed by the evil spirit of witchcraft, and the stepmother believed him. Of course, not believing him or making confessions contrary to the voice of the Holy Spirit could earn her a slap as you can see in another video clip from Nigeria. Meanwhile, the stepmother of the children confirmed the accusation. She claimed that one of the kids had been stealing the stepsister's blood, which she used to fly at night. And the pastor went ahead with the deliverance, for which he charged $50. Children accused of withcraft are tortured, torment, starved, chained, or beaten in the name of exorcism, because torture is believed to be an effective way of expelling the witchcraft in them or of disabling their "witch powers", whatever that means.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, one of Africa's most notorious witch hunters, Lady Apostle Helen Ukpabio of the Liberty Gospel Church, claims to have the power from God to identify and deliver those allegedly possessed by the demon of witchcraft. She organizes sessions where she claims to identfy and deliver mostly children who are victims of witchcraft attack, possession, or initiation. She produces films and books on how to identify child witches and the havoc they wreak in families. One of her films, The End of the Wicked, identifies children who steal or are stubborn or lack interest in going to school--children who break household utensils or keep bad company--as witches who cause death, sickness and misfortunes in their families.

Meanwhile, news about one of Nigeria's millionaire pastors, Bishop Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church (a.k.a. Winner's Chapel), who slapped one of his church members during deliverance, has drawn a lot of outrage, criticism and condemnation around the globe.

Bishop Oyedepo slapped the girl, because she claimed not to be an ordinary witch, but a "witch for Jesus": something this Pentecostal witch doctor found so embarrassing that he had to slap the lady in question.

The time has come for all skeptics to help expose the scams, tricks, atrocious acts, fakery, fraud and pretensions of these Christian pastors. Unfortunately, due to corruption and lack of rule of law, none of these criminals have been brought to justice. These evangelical churches have become "miners" of unreason, blind faith, superstition, and ignorance in Africa. We who subscribe to reason and critical thinking need to join efforts in combating the epidemic of witchcraft accusation and religious exploitation in the region.

Leo Igwe is a skeptical activist in Nigeria and a former representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. Currently, he is researching African witchcraft accusations at the University of Bayreuth in Germany. He is partnering with the JREF to respond in a more organized and grassroots way to the growing superstitious beliefs about witchcraft throughout the continent of Africa.