Eleven years ago, Miriam was hiding in a bush while villagers called for her death. Last weekend, she walked across a stage at Akwa Ibom State University to collect her Bachelor’s degree in History and International Relations.
The distance between those two moments is almost impossible to put into words.
Danish aid worker Anja Ringgren Lovén shared the news of Miriam’s graduation on Facebook on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, and the post has since moved thousands of people who have followed her story or are hearing it for the first time.
Lovén, who runs the organisation Land of Hope, recalled the day she and her colleague, Director of Child Development Nsidibe Orok, received a tip that a young girl was in danger in a local village in Akwa Ibom State. They drove out alone, without police protection, to find her.
In Lovén’s own words:
“11 years ago Land of Hope’s Director of Child Development Nsidibe Orok and I drove out alone to a local village,” she wrote.
“We have gotten a tip that a young girl was in danger. She was accused of being a witch and some of the locals wanted to k!ll her !
“When we came to the village we immediately felt hostility. We found the young girl and she showed us where she was hiding inside the bush.
“It was all filmed for a documentary aired on Danish national TV in 2016. It was the day we rescued Miriam!
“Orok and I drove Miriam to Land of Hope. While driving the locals started running after the car and screamed they would k!ll all of us. We did not have police protection back then.
“We drove faster and escaped the dangerous situation.
“In the evening my husband David and I sat down with Miriam to know the full story.
“Miriam told us that two of her friends were also accused of being witches but they did not survive.
“One was burned alive and the other had a rope tied around his neck and Miriam witnessed how he was strangulated!
“She was so traumatized and for a long period after we rescued her she did not speak.
“But just look at her today !! 11 years after her rescue Miriam was celebrated this weekend at the Convocation Ceremony of Akwa Ibom State University !
“Miriam now holds a Bachelor degree of Art in History and International Relations !!
“Congratulations to my strong and beautiful daughter! You faced so much evil but love conquers all ! #childrennotwitches.”
What Miriam survived before she was even old enough to fully understand it is the kind of thing that breaks most people permanently. She had watched two of her friends accused of the same thing. One was burned alive. The other was strangled with a rope, and she witnessed it. She then ran and hid, knowing she was next.
When Lovén and Orok pulled her out of that bush and into the car, the villagers chased them down the road, screaming threats. The two women drove faster and did not stop.
Miriam arrived at Land of Hope silent. Traumatised to the point where words had left her entirely. It took a long time before she spoke again.
And now she is a university graduate.
Her story is a rebuke to every person who looked at a child and saw something to be destroyed rather than something to be protected. It is also a reminder of what becomes possible when someone decides, without any obligation to do so, to turn the car around and go back for a girl hiding in the bush.
Watch the video:
