 has said some parents supporting a Rivers State){kind=link}
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has said some parents supporting a Rivers State pastor arrested for flogging children during a so-called “spiritual cleansing” require counselling.
NAPTIP’s Rivers State official, Nwamaka Ikediashi, made the comment on Friday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, while providing an update on the case.
Ikediashi described the flogging incident as “a total case of child abuse,” adding that the parents were also victims.
Ikediashi said, “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 counselling.”
The pastor, identified as Ifediorah Joseph, was arrested by the police for flogging over 20 children during a three-day programme in Port Harcourt under the guise of “spiritual cleansing.”
Joseph’s arrest prompted some children and their parents to gather at the police station, singing and dancing in his support.
Channels TV reports that one parent told journalists she consented to the act, claiming the ritual was meant to save the children from a looming threat.
“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,” the parent said.
The NAPTIP official added, “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.”
The Rivers State Police Command said investigations were ongoing.
According to police, the pastor claimed the programme involving minors was inspired by the Holy Spirit.