In 2016, a young boy who had been abandoned and branded a witch in Akwa Ibom was rescued by Danish aid worker Anja Ringgren Lovén. After years of separation, the boy has now been reunited with his mother.
The heartwarming reunion comes after Lovén’s compassionate act of giving water to the severely emaciated 2-year-old boy and rescuing him from the streets on January 30, 2016. Lovén and her husband David Emmanuel Umem led a rescue team to bring the child to the Children’s Education and Development Foundation (ACAEDF), also known as the “Land of Hope.”
The boy, named Hope, had been left to starve to death after being branded a witch by his family. His mother, who was a minor at the time, had been impregnated by a much older Village Head, who took her as his “wife.” She gave birth to Hope at the age of 15.
Lovén revealed that the entire story involved rape, child labor, and abuse, although she did not provide all the details. The circumstances that led to the boy being branded a witch and abandoned were also left undisclosed.
In a touching moment captured in a documentary titled “Woman at the End of the World,” Hope was reunited with his mother, and the emotional reunion left many viewers in tears. Lovén expressed her relief at finally finding Hope’s mother and the overwhelming emotions that accompanied the reunion.
Hope’s mother, who had endured hardship since giving birth to him at a young age and lost both her parents, was finally reunited with her son. The bond between Hope and his mother grew during his time at the Land of Hope, and he forgave her for leaving him. In Hope’s story, his mother was deemed innocent, as she was forced to leave the village when she became pregnant with Hope’s younger brother, Daniel, at the age of 16.
The heartwarming reunion signifies a new chapter in their lives, filled with hope and the opportunity to rebuild their relationship as mother and son.
