"The stigmatization of children as witches and wizards and their subsequent abandonment/exposure to all sorts of physical, mental and emotional abuse has become the most prevalent form of child rights violation in Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria..."

1. CONCLUSIONS

1. Street children face high level of risks and insecurity and are vulnerable to all forms of exploitation and abuse; they are deprived of their rights to family life, education, food, health; the right to grow up in a nurturing environment where they can realise their potentials and dignity as human beings; their future is uncertain and they need assistance and support
2. Accusations of witchcraft and consequent stigmatization are by far the most important cause of child abandonment/street children phenomenon in Oron. Beliefs in child witchcraft is deeply entrenched in the society and is strongly perpetuated by revivalist churches and driven by religious profiteering.
3. Other factors that push children into the streets include breakdown of family structure, collapse of extended family, death of one or both parents (including step parenting), failure of parents in their responsibilities, financial pressures on parents, search for explanation of misfortunes, and impact of audiovisual materials.
4. Street children population is very mobile, it is hard to trace the one met today the next day, however, they agglomerate around market places, motor parks, junk yards, beaches, school compounds and are engaged in cart pushing, begging, fishing and helping fishermen, carrying loads, stealing and pick pocketing, sweeping and cleaning
5. Street children in the study area are mostly males between the ages of 5-14 years old; from low income families, majority of whom are either orphaned or from broken families. They usually come from poor and underprivileged homes.
6. Street children face problems of survival and livelihood; abuse, exploitation and trafficking; social hypocrisy and stigmatization, emotional insecurity and psychological challenges, exposure to crimes, accidents,
7. Street children need to be adequately reintegrated into the society through proper care and rehabilitation, proper education, counselling and psychosocial support
8. Exorcism which is promoted by the church is not quite a satisfactory option among parents, they do not really believe that children who have been ‘delivered’ are quite free of the ‘spirit’ which explains why many children still end up on the street even after spending long period of time in the church.
9. The enactment of the Child Rights Act in Akwa Ibom State could reduce child abandonment in the long run but could create problems of abuse within the family
10. Awareness of the Child Rights Act is very low in the study area
11. Street children have identified their major needs to include shelter, education and vocational skills, and reintegration into the society, with family reunification as the starting point. Basic needs such as food, clothing and healthcare come lower on their scale of needs.
12. Street children have great potentials: they have strong desire to learn, are very resilient, have basketful of experience on survival, are very hardworking, are very organised and caring.
13. The negative effects of the child abandonment syndrome in Nigeria include increased child labour and abuse, child trafficking, high illiteracy rate, increase in child mortality rate, increase in child offences and juvenile delinquency (stealing, drugs, violence, etc), poor image of Akwa Ibom in particular and Nigeria in general, bleak future  for Nigeria. Like Reuben Abati of The Guardian Newspaper said, “It is sad that at a time when other nations are sending their children to schools, offering them welfare support and equipping them for the future, Nigeria is labelling its own children as witches and wizards and dehumanizing them”. Thus, child abandonment has strong negative implications on human rights, environment, and economy.
14. A drop in centre is needed in Oron community as a matter of urgency. This will ensure that children at risk have a place they can run to, from which point their families can be engaged, it will also help in proper tracking of street children in Oron, it will help provide basic needs of the children, and where possible, education. It will also reduce the risk of children being trafficked

1. RECOMMENDATIONS

GOVERNMENT:

1. Akwa Ibom State Government should constitute a Child Rights Implementation Committee (CRIC) to coordinate efforts to implement and monitor the implementation of the Child Rights Act. This committee should not be an arm-chair committee made up of just politicians, but representation from proactive persons who are truly dedicated to the welfare of children.
2. Akwa Ibom State Government should empower the Child Rights Implementation Committee to implement the Child Rights Act.
3. The Akwa Ibom State Government should begin to regulate the activities of churches and those known to be violating the rights of children should be sanctioned;
4. The Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) should ban all home videos that promote superstitious beliefs that lead to the stigmatization of children as ‘witches.
5. Place full legislative machinery against labelling of children as witches
6. Advance high-powered investigation into every element of the issues involved and all allegations against persons involved in the stigmatisation and labelling of children as witches
7. Prosecute all persons found culpable of this crime of child labelling
8. Deploy social resources for the support, comfort and enjoyment of all categories of children all over the state
9. Possibility of closure of every organisation involved in this evil stigmatisation of children
10. The capacity of the Police, social welfare, teachers and health professionals should be built to enable them respond sensitively and in the best interest of the child.
11. Specialized child protection units should be created within the Police Force.
12. Support should be given to NGOs and CBOs that work in the area of child rights/care to ensure best practices, proper coordination of efforts, effective monitoring and transparency.
13. The child witchcraft/abandonment should be prioritised by the government, it should be mainstreamed into relevant government policies and programmes.

COMMUNITIES:

1. Village Heads and community leaders should be mobilise their communities to ensure they do not perpetuate child rights offences.
2. Parents who abandon their children for whatever should be reported by village heads to the appropriate authorities
3. Community leaders should collaborate with child based agencies and organizations to ensure the local people are adequately sensitised.
4. The Christian folk (CAN, PFN, etc) should come together to ensure that the name of the great religion is not dragged in mud by those who are out to make money through dubious means; bad eggs among its fold must be fetched out

ORGANISATIONS/INSTITUTIONS:

1. Organisations should increase their efforts in the area of advocacy and sensitisation as this is the key to lasting positive change. Prevention campaigns should be targeted at local communities and not at conference rooms and expensive hotels.
2. Hospital/medical workers should be trained or sensitised to act promptly/be responsive to cases of physical abuses on street children.
3. Heads of schools/teachers must take action to reduce or resist stigmatization of street/abandoned children. The present day free education policy of the government will be defeated if the present trend continues because an innocent sector of the target population will be excluded.
4. Organisations working in the area of child rights protection and advocacy need to collaborate and forge partnerships to strengthen current efforts.