Man, 50, Blames Evil Spirits After Raping A 2 Year Old Girl

A 50 year old man from Mbak Ekpe in Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria, Okon Michael, has blamed evil spirits for his rape of a two year old girl. He told newsmen that he still did not understand what came over him, and that someone had come to his home and told him that something serious was going to happen to him, but that he did not take it seriously.

This trend continues the increasingly disturbing cases of men who rape prepubertal girls, and then turn around and blame it on the devil, or in this case evil spirits. Just 2 days ago, I wrote about a pastor who blamed the devil for his rape of a 13 year old girl.

Akwa Ibom state, and the neighbouring Cross River state which is home to notorious witch hunting pastor, Helen Ukpabio, are known for their beliefs in child witches. Mrs Ukpabio is the founder of Liberty Foundation Gospel Ministries, and is well known in both states as a woman who identifies and exorcises "witchcraft spirits" from children. She has produced a number of moderately successful movies about child witches, and is also the author of several books dealing with witchcraft and demonic possession. About a week after this article was published, she was deported from the UK, and has been banned from entering the country, just like David Oyedepo, a self-styled bishop and the megalomaniac multi millionaire founder and president of the Living Faith Ministries (aka Winners Chapel).
I wrote about the reality of paedophilia in Nigeria about 2 months ago, a trend which has largely been ignored by the Nigerian society, especially in the mainly muslim north where it is normal to marry off girls before they reach puberty. Most cases go unreported because they are either perpetrated by a family member, or clergy. Those that eventually make it into the news do so because the perpetrator is either not well connected, or does not have the wherewithal to influence the authorities to either keep it out of the news, or make the case go away.