An official of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in Rivers State, Nwamaka Ikediashi, says the parents of minors recently flogged by a pastor during a so-called “spiritual cleansing” also need counselling to understand the gravity of the abuse.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Friday, Ikediashi condemned the incident.
“It is a total case of child abuse, and the parents are victims, and they are supposed to be made to understand the implications of this whole thing, and that can only be made possible via counseling,” she stated.
The incident involved Pastor Ifediorah Joseph, who was arrested in Rivers State after police discovered he had beaten children during a three-day religious programme described as a “spiritual cleansing.”
In a twist, several of the children and their parents later appeared at a police station in Port Harcourt, singing and dancing to demonstrate support for the pastor. Some parents even insisted they had authorised the act.
“My daughter was among the children that was purified. The message was that death was in the air, and they should purify the children. They did the purification with pigeon blood, water and palm fruit”, a parent told reporters:
Despite this, Ikediashi maintained that the parents were themselves victims of misinformation and harmful beliefs.
“The parents are victims as well because they do not understand the implications, but if they did understand, they would not let their children be subjected to such inhuman treatment and torture,” she added.
