Award winner, South South Deputy Bureau Chief of The Guardian, Anietie Akpan (right); Rasheed Zubair, AIT correspondent; Cross River State NUJ Chairman, Nsa Gill, and the Principal Counsel, BRCI and representative of Safe Child African, James Ibor, during the presentation of Excellence Award to Akpan at NUJ Press Centre, Calabar.
The Guardian Newspaper South South Deputy Bureau Chief, Anietie Akpan, has won an International Award of Excellence from a UK-based organisation, Safe Child Africa, for his contributions towards ending Witchcraft Branding in Africa.
He emerged overall winner from three entries of documentations of witchcraft branding reports by Safe Child Africa, done in partnership with Basic Right Counsel Initiative (BRCI).
Speaking on behalf of Safe Child Africa at the presentation of the award on Monday January 9, 2023, at the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Calabar, the Principal Counsel for BRCI, Mr. James Ibor, said Akpan was selected by the organisations after a thorough review of stories on witchcraft branding.
Ibor, who urged journalists to continue to push for end to witchcraft branding in Africa, said Akpan’s good works and dedication to investigating witchcraft branding in the past 35 years of practice earned him the award.
“On behalf of the Board of Trustees of Safe Child Africa and Basic Right Counsel Initiative, that is their local partner, I want to congratulate Mr. Anietie Akpan for the Award of Excellence and to use this opportunity to encourage you not to discontinue to sustain what you are doing but to encourage your colleagues to continue to push the campaign to end witch hunt in Africa,” Ibor stated.
Speaking shortly after receiving the award, Akpan expressed gratitude for the award, saying he was shocked when Ibor called to inform him of the award, stating he was just doing a selfless job out of passion for humanity.
He said: “I am extremely humbled for this award. In the first place, I was doing a selfless job; I was not prompted by anybody. As far back as the nineties, I used to investigate stories on witchcraft stigmatisation, it was very common then, I was doing it out of love, out of passion and out of humanity to ensure that this wicked and dangerous practice is eliminated, I never expected any award. I was shocked when James Ibor called me and said, ‘you have an award.’”
The Cross River Council Chairman of NUJ, Nsa Gill, congratulated Akpan for his dedication and making the profession a proud one for the state union.
The Guardian
