Hope, the Nigerian boy rescued after being branded a witch, has graduated primary school and will begin secondary education in September.
Hope, the Nigerian boy who was abandoned after being branded a witch, has graduated from primary school and will start secondary education in September.
Danish aid worker Anja Ringgren Lovén, who rescued him in Akwa Ibom in 2016, announced the milestone in a Facebook post on Monday, August 25.
She wrote, “Hope survived. He graduated this year and starts secondary school next month… Hope graduated primary school with one of the highest grades.”
Lovén praised Hope’s intelligence, creativity, and resilience, noting that he communicates through sign language due to deafness.
On January 30, 2016, Lovén was photographed giving water to the then two-year-old after being left to die by his family. The viral image highlighted the plight of children accused of witchcraft in Nigeria.
Hope now lives at Land of Hope, a foundation co-run by Lovén and her husband, Nigerian lawyer David Emmanuel Umem, which provides shelter, education, and healthcare for vulnerable children.