HELEN AKPABIO GOES WITCH-HUNTING IN UK; MAY BE DEPORTED

It had been easy for her in Nigeria to declare a child a "witch" and go unchallenged, mainly due to our belief in superstitions, or the respected for "men/women of God". Allegations have it that in Uyo and Calabar, Helen Akpabio, the witch hunter as she is popularly known had branded some children "witches" and the community has descended on such children and murdered them. But such would never be tolerated in the UK, where the Evangelist is currently spreading her ministry of "delivering children from witchcraft".

Evangelist Helen Akpabio, a former Nollywood actress, was reported to have preached that, “If a child under the age of two screams in the night and cries and is always feverish with deteriorating health, he or she is a servant of Satan.”

This declaration, however did not go down well with the The Witchcraft and Human Rights Information Network, WHRIN,  the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales and the International Humanist and Ethical Union, IHEU, who have duly complained to the Home Secretary, even demanding that Evangelist  Ukpabio be deported, and probably banned from reentering the UK, citing the U.K. Immigration Act 1971. The groups aver that "Ms. Ukpabio’s presence in the U.K. was not conducive to the public good" 

It could be recalled that the UK government has moved swiftly to block entry to the UK for Islamic preachers whose presence are considered as harmful to the public good, Akpabio may be the first African pentecostal preacher to be cited under this law to face such measure. The cases of Victoria Climbié and Kristy Bamu were cited as examples "where witchcraft beliefs played a role in the horrific torture and murder of children."

“It is important that the UK authorities send a message to the world that branding children, or anyone, as a witch is beyond the pale.”says Bob Churchill, of the IHEU.