# Child witch belief in Nigeria? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 25, 2014, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-witch-belief-in-nigeria/691601 "2014-06-25T12:10:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-witch-belief-in-nigeria/691601/1 "2014-06-25T12:10:18Z")
> **[Children are targets of Nigerian witch hunt](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/dec/09/tracymcveigh.theobserver)** > > Evangelical pastors are helping to create a terrible new campaign of violence against young Nigerians. Children and babies branded as evil are being abused, abandoned and even murdered while the preachers make money out of the fear of their parents... Could someone explain what exactly are the social factors leading to the child witch phenomenon? I’ve done a fair bit of reading on it via internet and I still don’t understand it. I assumed it was a way to get rid of an unwanted or inconvenient child, accuse them of being a witch and drive them from your house. But that doesn’t seem to be the case, from reading it appears parents will accuse their own child of being a witch, and then go into massive debt paying for exorcisms and witch treatments. Anyone at any time can accuse a child of being a witch and it basically sticks. The belief is not ancient, it seems it started in the 1990s, and there is a whole industry of witch accusers and exorcists and witch treatments. I even saw a study that said if a first born child is accused of being a witch and abandoned or killed, the subsequent children are healthier and better taken care of and loved. So the witch children are scapegoats for any misfortune. You can see some horrifying videos on youtube if you want. And it seems that if accusations of witchcraft are used as a weapon among villagers, well hell start accusing your accusers children too right? Seems the whole thing would fall apart if everyone is vulnerable. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-witch-belief-in-nigeria/691601/2 "2014-06-25T12:23:33Z")
Why single out Nigeria? Same thing [happened in Maryland this year](http://abcnews.go.com/US/women-killed-children-exorcism-attempt-police/story?id=21586762) ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-witch-belief-in-nigeria/691601/3 "2014-06-25T12:47:46Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Why single out Nigeria? Same thing [happened in Maryland this year](http://abcnews.go.com/US/women-killed-children-exorcism-attempt-police/story?id=21586762) Because I’m trying to understand a specific cultural phenomenon? I don’t doubt there are people in the USA who think their kids are demon possessed/witches, but it isn’t a widespread issue. There is at least one other childhood exorcism turned murder in the USA that was in the news recently aside from that one. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-witch-belief-in-nigeria/691601/4 "2014-06-25T13:07:33Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Why single out Nigeria? Same thing [happened in Maryland this year](http://abcnews.go.com/US/women-killed-children-exorcism-attempt-police/story?id=21586762) Because even though back in olde timey days we’d simply say it’s because they’re ‘genetically inferior’ today we can still say it’s because they’re ‘culturally’ under-developed. IOW religious beliefs still outweigh scientific logic and reason (or what we’d simply call common sense). Remember political correctness is just a synonym for ‘convenient self-delusion’. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-witch-belief-in-nigeria/691601/5 "2014-06-26T02:48:24Z")
I think the article you linked to explains it pretty well. It’s a way for preachers to make money. It worked the same way during the Inquisition. Witches cause bad things to happen. If bad things are happening, it’s proof positive that we have a witch problem. If we don’t get rid of these witches, things will only get much worse. I’d rather we burn the old lady (or in this case the kid) than all starve from failed crops (or whatever widespread fear is largest in that community). It’s basic human nature and basic marketing. Define the problem and then supply the solution. It works the same way for witches and breath mints. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-witch-belief-in-nigeria/691601/6 "2014-06-26T08:54:51Z")
Keep in mind these are not people renowned for their critical thinking skills. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-witch-belief-in-nigeria/691601/7 "2014-06-26T18:22:36Z")
> [@Chihuahua](#): > > Keep in mind these are not people renowned for their critical thinking skills. That’s racist. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-witch-belief-in-nigeria/691601/8 "2014-06-26T18:51:23Z")
This is why if I think anyone’s a witch, I automatically join them. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2014, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-witch-belief-in-nigeria/691601/9 "2014-06-27T06:05:00Z")
> [@Ornery\_Bob](#): > > I think the article you linked to explains it pretty well. It’s a way for preachers to make money. > > It worked the same way during the Inquisition. > > Witches cause bad things to happen. > > If bad things are happening, it’s proof positive that we have a witch problem. > > If we don’t get rid of these witches, things will only get much worse. > > I’d rather we burn the old lady (or in this case the kid) than all starve from failed crops (or whatever widespread fear is largest in that community). > > It’s basic human nature and basic marketing. Define the problem and then supply the solution. It works the same way for witches and breath mints. I think my problem with that is I can understand extreme actions through ancient and deep cultural values, think of say female circumcision. And while humans are a superstitious lot it usually is tempered with practicality, buy a $1 dollar rock to avoid tiger attacks in Utah vs. a $100,000 rock. So for a relatively new belief to get people to bankrupt themselves killing their kid because some scammer preacher says so is…:dubious: I guess it just seems weird somehow, does not compute. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-witch-belief-in-nigeria/691601/10 "2014-06-28T16:08:32Z")
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