I only noticed this through an indirect route. His name came up in a discussion on Kiva I came across for other reasons. But it seems on July 30th, Leo Igwe, who sometimes writes articles for Culture Kitchen, was attacked by a mob in Nigeria. This is from a letter written by the International Humanist and Ethical Union (which Leo works for) the Nigerian High Commission in the UK:
According to an eye-witness account, about two hundred members of Liberty Gospel Church stormed the venue of the symposium on Thursday, 30 July. They attacked Mr Igwe, took his bag, his camera and his mobile phone as well as destroying his spectacles. Liberty Gospel Church, led by Helen Akpabio, has been alleged to have held ‘trials’ of children suspected of being witches and many of these children have been killed after having been found guilty by such ‘trials’.
And from an article on AllAfrica.com:
In another development, Stepping Stones, a UK-based NGO has alleged that Helen Ukpabio's campaign of terror against children and those committed to fighting for their rights took a new turn last week when a large group of her supporters raided a child rights conference in Calabar and attacked a number of the delegates. The conference, which was on the theme of "Child Rights and Witchcraft", had been organised by the Nigerian Humanist Movement and the UK charity Stepping Stones Nigeria in response to the widespread abandonment, torture and killing of children in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States due to the belief in child 'witches'. As the day began, at around 10.30 am, a group of religious extremists dressed in orange raided the venue and began protesting loudly.
The extremists, who are believed to be members of Helen Ukpabio's Church, Liberty Foundation Gospel Ministries, were carrying a number of banners with slogans such as, "We give freedom to the witches" and "Stepping Stone is not a registered organisation". Eventually, after an hour and a half, the police turned up and dispersed the mob. One person was arrested.
The conference co-ordinator Leo Igwe, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Humanist Movement, was viciously beaten during the attack and had his phone and camera stolen by the angry mob. Speaking after the event Leo said: "The conference was a peaceful meeting for people to openly debate what could be done to prevent the abuse of child rights linked to the belief in witchcraft. This attack by Helen Ukpabio's supporters once again highlights the depravity of this so-called "woman of God". Such false prophets should be immediately arrested and prosecuted under the child rights Act".
I find almost nothing else about this story in the mainstream news. There is a related article from the Guardian about so-called "witch children" which is good background. But nothing on Leo's efforts on behalf of these children and his getting attacked.
I am proud to have recruited Leo to write for Culture Kitchen and his pieces have been a wonderful addition to the mix of articles we have. I am emailing Leo but find he has only sporadic internet access. Leo's most recent posts on Culture Kitchen dealt with this very topic of so-called "witch children". You can read about it in the following articles:
Campaign of Terror unleashed on Nigeria’s ‘Witch Children’
BRINGING EVANGELIST HELEN UKPABIO TO JUSTICE/CAMPAIGN UPDATE
And you can contact the Nigerian embassy on this subject here:
http://www.nigeriaembassyusa.org/...