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| Anthony with his son, that he stigmatized as a wizard/witch |
On the April 25, 2014 the IPO (Mrs Helen) took the man again to the court and the Magistrate ordered the police to re-arrange the case that the case file was not properly filed; and the man was returned again to the police cell.
The case comes up on Monday, April 28, 2014 at Chief Magistrate Court 1 Eket. The case number was read, as between the Nigerian Police vs. Mr. Anthony. When the charge was read as follows “ that you Mr. Anthony Okon on the 17th of February 2014 accuses your child master Emmanuel Anthony of being a wizard and abandoned him at Eket timber market and ran away, are you guilty or not ?” he pleaded not guilty. The magistrate then ordered that the man be remanded in the prison custody pending the trial on the 30rd May 2014. That family court is not yet constituted in his court therefore the case is been transferred to High court 2 for further hearing. He was transferred to the prison custody Eket with an option of bail of Five Hundred Thousand Naira and that the person should be a village head and must submit 2 recent passport photographs.
The court was dismissed by 3:30pm.
At High Court 2, the case will be presided over by Justice Teresa Obot who is an expert in Child Right Law and was also a member of Akwa Ibom State Commission of inquiry into witchcraft accusation on children that was setup by the State Governor in 2010.
HAPSTA/CRARN SCRIP if funded by HAMU, Norway
Report by Emmanuel Okon
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