A young girl, identified as Mary, who was branded a witch, tortured and abandoned in Akwa Ibom State 10 years ago, has gained admission into the university.
Danish aid worker, Anja Ringgren Lovén and her husband, David Emmanuel Umem, rescued Mary ten years ago from a bush where she had been hiding.
Ms. Lovén shared the good news on Facebook while posting the before and after picture of Mary who is grown up now.
Anja Ringrren Lovén wrote;
“Sometimes our work does not need a lot of words. The pictures speak for themselves! This is Mary today vs. 10 years ago when David Emmanuel Umem found her tortured hiding in a bush. Congratulations Mary. Another chapter at university is waiting. We are so proud of you.”
Anja Ringgren Lovén is the founder of the charity organization DINNødhjælp, which has been protecting and rescuing children accused of being witches in Nigeria since 2012.
Lovén became known in 2016 when a photo from one of her rescue actions for witch children went viral.
In the picture, Anja squats in front of a small n@ked and starved boy, whom she gives water with her water bottle. Anja subsequently took the boy to a children’s center in Nigeria, where he miraculously survived.
She named him Hope, and the rescue operation became a major catalyst in Lovén’s struggle to tell the rest of the world about witch children and the superstition that prevailed in Nigeria.
Lovén’s work in Nigeria was recognized by the Dalai Lama, who invited Lovén to India to personally thank and acknowledge the work she is doing in Nigeria. The meeting was broadcast in the documentary “Anja’s Orphanage” on DR2 on April 23, 2018.
Lovén works and lives alternately in Denmark and Nigeria, where she manages DINNet relief and heads Land of Hope with Umem.
Lovén has been giving lectures since 2014 on what it means to sell everything you own to pursue your dream. In the lectures, she also talks, among other things, about life at the Land of Hope Children’s Center and how to bring about the superstition in Nigeria. She is today one of Denmark’s most booked speakers.
