38 Year Old Man Arraigns In Court for Child-Witch Branding and Torture

Benji Rescued by CRARN



Akwa Ibom State: A 38 year old man, Mr. Michael Effiong from Odoronkit
in Esit Esit Eket Local Government Area was on Thursday arraigned before
the Esit Eket Magistrate Court, Uqou over torturing and abandoning of his
seven year old son, Master Benjamin Effoing.



Mr Effoing was arrested barely a week ago by the Esit Eket Divisional
Police Headquarters after a group of NGOs in the area petitioned the
police. The Child’s Right and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN) and the Young
Humanistas Network (YHN) in their joint petition, told the police that Mr.
Effiong had earlier abandoned his little son while he was 3 years old after
putting the little lad under intense torture claiming that he was
responsible for his failure in life.



The little boy, fondly called Benji was rescued to CRARN Children Centre in
Eket where he was given medical attention, care and support for three years
before he was reconciled with the father last year. He was again found
roaming the street, about 11 kilometres away from his father village, with
scars and wounds all over his body. When asked what happened to him, he
said “My father said that the witch power has not finished in my body.
Every night he will tie my legs and hand then hang me on the roof while
beating me with wires and sticks...Then he took me in the night and dropped
in a place I did not know; I began to walk around the street looking for
CRARN Centre.”



Mr Effiong who had earlier signed an undertaking with CRARN to love,
protect and give the child education was arrested in his house early
morning penultimate Friday for not only torturing and abandoning the child,
but for breaching spirit of the undertaking he signed with the
organisations.



The intense pressure from members of the Odoronkit community mounted on the
police to give out Mr Effiong, who is a local wood sawyer on bail, did not,
however, yield dividends. The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of
Esit Eket, Mr. *Dike Uchechi, *while chatting with news men said the
prosecution of Mr Effiong will go ahead to serve as a deterrent to others
who make abandonment of children in the area a way of life.

“I told the Police Prosecutor in my division, Mr Akpabio to go and charge
the case to court. This will serve as a deterrent to others” the police
boss said.

Michael Effiong tortured son



Speaking to news men, the Director of Administration of CRARN, Mr. Emmanuel
Okon said the organisation will work with law enforcement agency to
prosecute parents who abandon and torture their children



“CRARN with its partners will continue to follow up cases of torture and
abandonment of children to ensure that the children are not unduly exposed
to danger. For the churches that encourage parents to abuse their children,
they should read the scripture carefully and tell us where it said that
children should be treated in this way.” Mr Okon maintained.



The Project Manager, YHN, Mr Ayobami Ojedokun said he was appalled by the
rate at which children were constantly labelled as witches and thrown out
to roam the streets to become easy prey to human traffickers. He called on
the state government to engage churches in intensive campaign to check the
trend of stigmatizing children as witches.



Though Mr Effiong pleaded guilty to all the charges preferred against him,
the Magistrate, Mrs Esther Etukudo said she will transfer the case to the Director of
Public Prosecution, (DPP) in Uyo who will then proceed with the case to the
family court in line with the new child right law of the state. She
commended CRARN and YHN for job well done and significantly for giving the
child absolute care while being abandon by the parents.

She however, ordered that Mr Effiong be remanded in custody till 23 of
March, 2012 when the case will be transferred to Uyo.

Politics: Godswill Akpabio and his Legal Nightmares

Written by
Ikpafak Thompson Essien

Today (March 6, 2012), in an Abuja courtroom of Judge Karfarati,
Barrister Usoro Usoro, who is representing Godswill Akpabio, looked
like a small Billy-goat---the type which Akpabio himself often use for
sacrifice in one of those his many rituals.

As usual, Barrister Usoro Usoro appeared in court dazed and
unprepared. When the judge asked him if he is ready with his prepared
response to what the legal team of Frank Okon had presented, Barrister
Usoro said "No, Your Honor." With this answer, according to eye
witnesses who were in the courtroom, Judge Karfarati almost
(literally) hit the roof in frustration.

"Ok Counsel," the Judge looked straight at Usoro Usoro and his legal
team, "we will meet for trial on March 19, 2012. Do you understand
that?" Barrister Usoro Usoro, whom, from the beginning, everyone knew
that he has no defense for Akpabio on the matter of Frank Okon versus
his client, looked down on the cement floor of the courtroom and
mumbled, "Yes, Your Honor." On that note, the court adjourned until
March 19, 2012.

Reliable sources have confirmed that when the court sits on March 19,
all available evidence from both sides will be presented. Among the
evidence, which will be presented by the legal team of Frank Okon, is
a sworn affidavit by the former National Chairman of Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Nwodo, in which he stated, under oath,
that he never signed a Certificate of Clearance for Godswill Akpabio
to contest the gubernatorial election, which took place on April 26,
2011. If the affidavit sworn by Nwodo is accepted by the court
(analysts say it will be), then Akpabio risks being ordered by the
court to vacate his claimed position as the Executive Governor of Akwa
Ibom State; something Akpabio is having nightmares about and is now
wishing it never came to this.

Mr. Frank Okon has been telling his supporters that if the decision
of the court forces Akpabio out of the Hilltop Mansion, he will then
be sworn in as the next Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State.
Experts, who are very knowledgeable in the politics of the State, are
arguing about this claim made by Frank Okon. For now, it is very clear
that no one really knows what will happen if Akpabio is forced out of
office.

The Case of Imo Udo

Perhaps, the only one who knows exactly what will happen is Godswill
Akpabio himself. People who are close to Akpabio say he has been
telling those close to him that he would rather die than let Senator
Akpan Udoedehe and Mr. Frank Okon succeed him. Why he feels this way
about the Senator is no longer a secret to the people of Akwa Ibom
State, but his abhorrence for Frank Okon is due to the frustration
induced by Frank's rejection of all sorts of financial offers made by
Akpabio for him (Frank) to drop the pending case. To make sure that
Frank (or Udoedehe) does not end up becoming his successor, Akpabio
came up with another intriguing strategy by introducing Imo Udo to the
scene.

Let us recall that during second PDP Primary in the State on January
15, 2011 only Imo Udo and Godswill Akpabio were presented as the
candidates for PDP. When the result of the Primary was announced by
INEC, Mr. Imo Udo scored only a single (one) vote, while that of
Akpabio was nearly a million. Frank Okon was not allowed to
participate in the Primary because the Committee's Report on the
matter of Science Park, which was set up by Akpabio to probe Frank
Okon's involvement during the administration of Obong Victor Attah,
had indicted Frank of whatever crime it said he committed. Therefore,
as a convict (at least according to Akpabio) Frank was not eligible to
contest the election.

In the mind of Akpabio, since Frank's name was not on the ballot for
the Primary, if he (Akpabio) is forced out of the office, then Senator
Akpan Udoedehe may end up in the Hilltop Mansion, instead of Frank
Okon. And this is a situation Akpabio sweats about each time he thinks
of the scenario. To save the nightmare of what he suspects Udoedehe
will do to him if he becomes a governor, Akpabio contacted Imo Udo,
who had at least one vote during the Primary, to join in the case of
Frank Okon. Akpabio is also of the opinion that if Imo Udo succeeds
him, he (Imo) will never probe Akpabio's theft and other financial
irregularities he has committed against the people of Akwa Ibom State
since he became a governor in 2007.

True or not, there are speculations in Akwa Ibom State that in order
to convince Mr. Imo Udo to enter the case with Frank Okon, Akpabio had
to pay him $1 million United States dollars (others say 10 million
British pounds). Again this is speculative. The problem is those who
know the real story are not talking.

In any case, nearly one year after the case had been proceeding in
the court, Mr. Imo Udo filed a petition sometime in February 2012
before Judge Karfarati, with a request to enter the case both as a
defendant and as a plaintiff. I am not a lawyer, so, I will leave this
part for our legal minds to explain.

Mr. Frank Okon had filed a motion with the court to stop Mr. Imo Udo
from joining his case. Today (March 6, 2012), when the court sat in
Abuja, Judge Karfarati sided with Mr. Frank Okon and dismissed Mr. Imo
Udo's request to join as a defendant in the case. The request to join
as a plaintiff will be decided when the court sits again in two weeks.

Senator Udoedehe Files an Appeal

As had been expected, the lawyers for Senator Akpan Udoedehe have
filed an appeal with the Appellate Court in Calabar. In ten days (from
today) Akpabio’s lawyers are expected to file a response. Then the
Senator’s lawyers will be given another three days to respond to the
response of Akpabio’s lawyers. After that, a date will be set for a
hearing. Analysts say it is very likely that the Appellate Court may
refuse to listen to the case because the matter may be outside its
jurisdiction, which can only be explained by the Supreme Court. The
lawyers for Senator Udoedehe are already making plans for the Supreme
Court. One of the lawyers said to this writer; “It’s not over until
it’s over.”

Written by
Ikpafak Thompson Essien
Oregon