Liberty Church Mob Attack in Calabar: ten years later

Ten years ago today, members of the Liberty Gospel Church attacked and stole Calabar. They invaded a conference I organized to highlight the abuse of witchcraft beliefs in the region. Harmful practices related to beliefs about witchcraft are ubiquitous in Nigeria. However, the states of Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom were notorious because of widespread abuse and abandonment of alleged witch children. Witch hunts pervasive in the area have been badociated with the activities (programs, publications, films) of Helen Ukpabio and her church Liberty Gospel. Ukpabio claimed to be an ex-wizard, who eventually became a born-again Christian with the power to identify witches and exorcise witchcraft. She founded the Liberty Gospel Church and dedicated her ministry to witch hunting in the area. His violent campaign left a legacy of death and destruction in Calabar.

As a PhD student at the University of Calabar 2001-2005, I was able to see the poisonous effects of Ukpabio's witch hunt activities. From the main roads leading to Calabar to the streets of the metropolis, the billboards announced Ukpabio's sorcery deliverance sessions. There were banners with bold inscriptions at the door of the University of Calabar, near the main markets of Akim and Calabar, warning people against witchcraft attacks against their businesses, their families and their property.

The video of Ukpabio, The End of the Wicked, was then one of the most watched and discussed movies. Ukpabio's books on wizard identification were a constant point of reference for those seeking to understand the phenomenon. At the same time, several media reported blatant abuses of children identified as wizards in communities in the region and during Ukpabio rescue sessions. Accused of witchcraft, these children were treated horribly. They were beaten, chained, starved or abandoned by family members. Unfortunately, there was very little public education and enlightenment in the area. In simple terms, Calabar and its surroundings were taken by a witch. Many of the people I met in Calabar, including students and teachers, feared openly challenging witchcraft accounts or publicly challenging Helen Ukpabio's witch-hunt activities. Liberty Gospel Church.

Thus, when an opportunity arose to organize a public workshop on allegations of child rights and witchcraft, Calabar was a perfect fit. It was the most appropriate host city for the event. I thought the program would bring to one of my deepest aspirations and desires – to provide a counter-narrative to the dominant ideology of witchcraft and the Ukpabio witch hunt in the state of Cross River and beyond. The region needed a platform to question and challenge witchcraft accounts and to hold witch hunters accountable. The region also needed a space to support, rescue and rehabilitate victims of witchcraft allegations as alleged witches were treated as outcasts.

Thus, the event of July 29, 2009 was announced on state radio and television, in local and national newspapers. With a megaphone, I also went from street to street, from one market to another, educating and inviting people to the program. Certainly, I was expecting members of the Liberty Gospel Church and other wizarding believers during the event. There were some warnings that Ukpabio and members of his church might disrupt the meeting. But I thought it did not go beyond some pbadionate debates and warnings about the reality of witchcraft. I thought the event would be a forum to educate and enlighten them. But I was wrong. Ukpabio and members of his church had other projects.

Looking back today, I must say that there were signs of their evil plan that I ignored. The first sign that things might go wrong was when I was warned, two days before the event, that the event would not take place in the library's conference room. 39; state. It was said that a state function was to be held in the same place on the same day. That the governor will attend the ceremony. Our event was therefore moved to the cultural center, located about 500 meters from the state library. The management of the state library must have been informed of the imminent disruption of the event and decided to transfer it to the cultural center to limit the damage. I later learned that no public office had occurred at the state library board that day, July 29, 2009.

At the same time, the organizers focused on adapting the provisions so that the change of venue does not disrupt program plans too much. We made arrangements and asked some volunteers to stay on the board of the state library on the morning of the event to direct the guests to the cultural center.

On the morning of July 29, all volunteers arrived early to set up chairs and tables. Guests began arriving around 9 am, including university and college students. Two people, probably members of the Liberty Gospel Church, arrived and registered. I believe that they had to use fake names to register. Posing as participants, they asked for the program. I was at the registration desk at the time. And I gave them the program flyer and they quickly disappeared.

Around 10 am, the representative of the police commissioner arrived and a few other guests from the state and beyond. With hindsight, I can say that among the guests in the room were members of the Liberty Gospel Church who coordinated their activities with their counterparts who were considering invading the site.

As soon as I took the microphone and said, "We'll start soon", there was a pandemonium in the room while men and women wearing yellow vest (more than 150 d & rsquo; Between them) began to arrive from different directions chanting religious warrior songs. I was puzzled and I kept looking in different directions during their arrival. A few minutes later, they had invaded the room, including the top of the table for the main presenters. At that time, I noticed that some of the people sitting as guests were getting up and joining the crowd. I tried to calm them down, encouraging them to sit down so that we could debate and dialogue civilly. But all my calls fell in the ear of a deaf person. The representative of the police commissioner asked me to calm down. He called the headquarters of the state police and asked for help. While we were trying to find a way to contain the crowd of the Liberty Gospel Church, one of them used a video camera to record what was going on. At one point, the video man focused the camera on me. I told him to stop, but he refused. I held the camera.

It was at this moment that other church members fell on me, including those who sat and thought I was a participant. They hit me on the chest, the head and the waist. They grabbed my bag and broke my glbades. Shortly after they took away my bag and belongings, police arrived, dispersed the crowd and arrested some people. I went to the police station and made a statement and then returned to continue the event. Fortunately, later in the day, I noticed that one of my "real guests" at the event had recorded the incident with his mobile phone and had it posted on Youtube. This is how the world learned about the existence of this unfortunate action by the crowd and this attack by Ukpabio and his church members.

Ten years after the incident, the police did not prosecute Helen Ukpabio or members of his church. Even though, in his statement, one of the church members told the police that they had been sent by Helen Ukpabio to disrupt the event. Instead, Ukpabio sued me and sought damages, claiming that I had deprived her of the right to believe in witchcraft. But she lost. Incidentally, little has changed with regard to the witch hunt in Calabar. Ukpabio continued his witch-hunt ministry and recently organized an event on witchcraft screenings. In fact, more and more pastors have joined the witch research enterprise. The government must step up its efforts to stop Ukpabio and other wizard hunters in the area.