Human Rights Abuse Of The Sick In Prayer Camps In Mpohor District

Abstract

This study assessed human rights abuse of the sick in prayer camps in Mpohor District for NGO intervention. Purposive sampling procedure was used to select 20 participants. A semi-structured interview guide was used for data collection, Data were analysed using Miles and Huberman thematic content analysis. Four major themes emerged as categories of people who are found at the prayer camps, healing practices that go on in the prayer camps, abuses in the healing practices of the prayer camps and patients’ level of satisfaction with healing practices at prayer camps. The study revealed that, different people visit prayer camps for healing from different kinds of ailments. It was also found that custodians of the prayer camps do not regard the background one comes from since they claim to be directed by the Spirit to administer healing processes and practices for the sick. Again, the healing practices were found to include consumption of herbal concoctions, purging with the herbal concoction, bathing with cold water in the open, bathing in a river, smearing one's body with a prepared pomade, and wearing little or no clothes on the body amidst inhumane treatment and abuse like canning, rolling on the ground for several times, being locked in a room for several hours, being chained, inhaling smoke and eating foods without salt. Based on findings and conclusions, it is imperative to educate the general public on the kind of treatment meted out to sick people in prayer camps. Additionally, more awareness should be created on the dangers that sick people put themselves in when they visit varios prayer camps for healing to help savage the situation. The laws governing the operation of prayer camps should be enforced to prevent custodians of prayer camps from subjecting sick people under their care to inhumane and abusive treatment. Finally, NGOs should liaise with responsible stakeholders in health to hold prayer camps accountable for the lives of the sick in their camp.