Thousands of children in Nigeria, some as young as two and a half years-old, are being accused of being witches by Christian pastors, and subsequently being abandoned, tortured and sometimes killed by their families.

According to the specialist charity Stepping Stones, which provides refuge for the accused children, around 5 or 6 a day are being blamed for a range of unexplained tragedies in families, such as a sudden death. In one shocking case a father, told by a pastor that his son was a witch, killed his son by covering him with acid.

The readiness of adults to believe the claims made against their children has led to a number of unscrupulous individuals charging families “deliverance money” to “exorcise the evil spirits”

The tragic plight of the accused Nigerian children has been the subject of two Dispatches documentaries on Channel 4