Man who runs home for “witch” children accused of being “a wizard”
Lawyers writing to documentary-makers and to Guardian
Claims mob “almost killed” her in London
Helen Ukpabio, the Nigerian neo-Pentecostal witchfinder who has been on the receiving end of considerable opprobrium following a Channel 4 documentary, has given a defiant interview to Modern Ghana. She accuses Sam Itauma, who runs a hostel for children who have been rejected by their families after being accused of witchcraft, of being a wizard who is “trying to preserve the posterity of witches”, and she also claims he is trying to “tap into” British charitable funds for accused child witches in Congo:
He has now turned those children to become witches for the sake of money. Let it be so for him and whoever is supporting him.
She also once again asserts that some children have a supernatural power to cause harm, as she discusses her horror movie End of the Wicked:
The film simply says if a child is greedy – the type that says give me this, give me that, give me puff-puff, akara or sweet in school, he or she could be easily contaminated with witchcraft. So, saying that the film branded children witches, I didn’t see the people that the film branded witches. Rather, we saw children who were greedy and were contaminated by other children who were witches in the school…
I must say I can’t quite grasp the distinction she’s getting at here.
Ukpbabio also warns:
I have asked my lawyers to write to the BBC and The Guardian of London.
She means “Channel 4” rather than the BBC, but I’m sure the letter will get there eventually.
Ukpabio also complains about how she was recently received in the UK:
They almost mobbed me in London when I arrived on November 13, after the people watched the mischievous documentary…I arrived Heathrow Airport on 13 and as I walked pass to pick a taxi, somebody stopped and said, “You are Helen, right?” when I said “yes”, she went on, “You are very wicked. You kill children in Nigeria. Oh my God. You are the real devil. They were showing you on TV yesterday.” As she was talking, a crowd gathered and all the people were very angry. They almost killed me in London…When I got to the hotel, I decided to find a shop and buy recharge card for my phone. Again, another girl, this time a Nigerian screamed, “Oh you, you parade yourself as an evangelist but you kill children. God will punish you.” She now called her friend and before we knew it, people gathered. I left them…I left just after three days and left for Los Angeles. There the same scenario repeated itself.
Gosh, being on the receiving end of public hostility after being accused of something isn’t very nice, is it?
Ukpabio believes these children are lying, and that the man is a wizard
(Hat tip: Bulldada Newsblog)
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