AFRUCA seeks to prevent exorcism abuse of children

A MAJOR CONFERENCE to look at how churches can safeguard African children in the UK in the wake of allegations of child exorcism and witchcraft is to take place next month.

The event is being organised by the Africans United Against Child Abuse (AFRUCA) charity, and is seeking to set up a registration system for individuals who wish to establish places of worship in the UK. Currently there is no system in place to regulate the activities of churches which are not registered charities.

The conference will coincide with the release of a report by the government which is expected to show that there have been around 50 cases of child abuse of African children in London alone, with abuse ranging from shouting to beating, starving and, in one case, murder. There have also been allegations of exorcism and witchcraft taking place in some African congregations, particularly among churches made up of refugees from the Congolese community. However, a recent conference in London heard that many of these communities were not Christian-based.

Other recent cases include the court case involving Child B, the death of Victoria Climbie as well as allegations of child trafficking in some African churches. The case of Pastor Deya, the ‘miracle babies’ priest accused of illegally trafficking children from Kenya for illegal adoption in the UK has been widely reported

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