Abuse of child ‘witches’ on rise, aid group says

Y’know, possession would explain a lot about my own kids.

Christian Eshiett was a rambunctious pre-teen who spent a lot of time cavorting with his friends in southern Nigeria. He would skip school and run away from home for days, frustrating his grandfather, who oversaw the boy’s care.

“I beat him severely with canes until they broke, yet he never shed a tear,” said Eshiett Nelson Eshiett, 76. “One day, I took a broom to hit him and he started crying. Then I knew he was possessed by demons. … Nigerian witches are terrified of brooms.”

From that day two years ago, Christian, now 14, was branded a witch.

This is a disgusting story that deserves far more serious attention than it’s going to get here. The more I tried to think seriously about this, the more I became convinced that re-colonization of Africa is the only real answer.

So I stopped.

Question about the picture:

Is anybody convinced by the fact these people are carrying signs? If so, can we simply tell the witches from the non-witches that way? Sign = not a witch; no sign = witch?

Of course, that’s ridiculous. If that worked, the real witches would just start carrying signs, too.

Wait, I know: none of them are witches.

Geez.