We are deeply and seriously troubled by the January 19 tragic crusade that left 29 Liberians dead and video footage that paraded dozens of children under 15 years of age who reportedly confessed to being witchcraft.
Health authorities have confirmed the deaths of 29 people and 18 others sustained injuries as a result of stampede at a crusade in the Borough of New Kru Town late Wednesday night on January 19, 2022.
News of an attack by a gang of common criminals, according to eyewitness’ accounts, who demanded valuables from people on their way out from the stadium where the event was held, led to the stampede.
Unfortunately and sadly, a pregnant woman and eighteen (18) children are among the 29 reported dead. A total of 22 females including five girls, and seven (7) males including five (5) boys met their untimely demise on Wednesday. We too demand speedy and impartial investigation to establish the real cause of the incident.
Additionally, our attention is drawn to children who are seen in a video nodding their heads to questions that indict them as witchcraft who kill and eat human beings. Prophet Abraham Kromah had children indicting themselves at his crusade that ended in tragedy.
Prophet Abraham Kromah is the man of God who organized the Crusade in New Kru Town that resulted in the tragic deaths of 29 people following a stampede that erupted at the end of Crusade. He is believed to be a powerful man of God who delivers and heals people from demonic possession and as well as a great fortuneteller.
Children who were taken on stage to confess blamed their grandmothers for initiating them in different ways into witchcraft activities. Some of the children were quoted to have killed and eaten human beings.
However, Womenvoices independently conducted an investigation that established that some of the children that supposedly confessed were either coerced or did so because of peer pressure.
Womenvoices independently established that the majority of the children who confessed on the day of the crusade were now faced with the stigma of being witchcraft in their communities.
Our investigation also established that it is most likely for some of them (the children) to be bullied out of schools if nothing is done to restore their dignity and reintegrate them into society.
This is why we welcome and support the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection’s assurance to invite Prophet Abraham Kromah for questioning in relation to violation of the children’s rights.
We are hopeful that the Ministry through its Assistant Minister for Gender and Social Protection, Manmina Carr will properly represent the Liberian children to have Mr. Kromah account for violating Article 3 Section 18.1 of the Children Protection Law.
Indeed it is prohibited by the Children Protection Law to place a child in public light wrongly.
Article 3 Section 18.1 says a child gets rights to privacy and that privacy extends to the protection of publicity that places the child in public light wrongly. Presenting children in the public as witchcraft is a violation of their rights.
A wanton violation of such a law got us deeply troubled as the children in New Kru Town are facing the stigma of being witchcraft.
