Who will save our children? (Part 1)

This question must be answered by everyone irrespective of gender, status, political or religious affiliation because our existence is being compromised and our future gradually waning with the incessant violation of children who are constantly being subjected to one form of abuse or the other often leading to loss of life.

The year has barely started and there are already numerous cases of rape, abuse, neglect, kidnap and killing of children especially girls in Nigeria. Who else is as scared and worried as I am considering the number of new cases recorded every other day? Why has violence suddenly shifted or extended to the vulnerable, fragile and helpless children? Who will save the children from these monsters? Too many questions begging for answers which must be provided if we want a future for our children. Let’s look at a few cases recorded between December 2021 and January 2022 to give us a better insight into the need for urgent intervention in the area of children’s health and safety.

Cases in Point.

a. Case 1:

Victim: In Kano state, 5-year-old Hanifa Abubakar was kidnapped in December 2021. While her parents were making efforts to pay the ransom demanded by her kidnappers, she was murdered with rat poison and buried in a shallow grave 44 days after her kidnap.

Suspect: her school proprietor Abdulmalik Tanko kidnapped and eventually murdered

her with poison for fear of being identified by the victim.

b. Case 2

Victim: 11-year-old girl was bathed with hot water for refusing to run errands out of fear that she would be punished for a previous offence.

Suspect: victim’s biological mother committed the crime out of anger for refusing to

run errands for her which she considered disrespectful.

c. Case 3

Victim: 3-year-old girl raped in Bauchi state.

Suspect: biological father. Has been arrested.

d. Case 4

Victim: Teenage girl is brutalised and left traumatised in Sokoto state over a trivial issue.

Suspect: victim’s stepmother who simply derives joy in punishing her over trivial

issues.

e. Case 5

Victim: a 6-month-old baby was abandoned in a bus in Imo state. The child was rescued by the commercial driver.

Suspect: mother of the child who is still being tracked down by law enforcement

agents.

f.

Case 6

Victim: 13-year-old girl in Bayelsa state was hypnotised and attempted to be killed for ritual purposes before her rescue.

Suspects: three teenage boys between 15 and 16 years old who were found with

charms intended for the ritual.

g. Case 7

Victim:10-year-old boy in Abuja was accused of stealing meat and brutalised by having his hand soaked in hot water.

Suspect: a serving female police officer.

h. Case 8

Victim:14-year-old boy Henry Ekwos narrowly escaped being killed and buried in a shallow grave in Imo state. Though alive but with severe knife cuts all over his body. Suspect: a jobless neighbour angry that the boy’s father who is his landlord asked him to quit over unpaid rent.

i.

Case 9 Victim: 11-year-old girl raped in Benue state, impregnated and sent away. She just delivered her baby. Suspect: her aunt’s husband who raped her repeatedly before she was sent packing for being pregnant.

j.

Case 10 Victim: 13-year-old female hawker Zuwaira was abducted and killed in Kano state by her abductors after a 1million naira ransom demand from her parents. Suspect: 21 years old Auwalu Abdulrashid killed and buried Zuwaira in a shallow grave then proceeded to contact her parents for an N1million ransom which he later reduced to N400,000 before his arrest.

k. Case 11

Victim: 14-year-old virgin girl in the internally displaced people’s camp in Borno state was raped while searching for a menial pay job to help sustain her family in the camp. This led to her committing suicide out of fear of stigma and her parents’ reaction.

Suspect: Humanitarian worker raped her inside his one-bedroom apartment in the camp.

l.

Case 12:

Victim: young student of St. Michael’s Anglican church college Iganmu Lagos state was brutalised by his female vice-principal for wearing the wrong haircut and trousers.

Suspect: school’s vice-principal, Mrs Cordelia Uba.

m. Case 13

Victim: 11-year-old JSS 1 student of St.Valerian catholic school Onitsha, Anambra state after alleged maltreatment by a teacher. Suspect: the victim’s female school teacher.

n. Case 14

Victim: 14-year-old girl living with an aunt in Lagos state was defiled at least 15 times and impregnated by her in-law.

The culprit: 38-year-old Ofure Rey Siakpere a Pastor, defiled his wife’s niece constantly till she became pregnant. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with no option of a fine though he and his wife still maintain his innocence.

o.

Case 15

Victim: 12-year-old Sylvester Oromoni junior, a high school boarding student of Dowen College Lagos, allegedly bullied and made to drink a poisonous substance leading to his death. Though autopsy report has refuted this claim, the investigation is still on.

Suspects: the alleged suspects were his senior students and school staff.

p. Case 16

Victim: 8-year-old Asma’u was abducted on her way from an errand and later killed.

Suspect: her father alleged that their male neighbour kidnapped and killed her despite collecting a 3-million-naira ransom.

An investigation is ongoing.

Please read the next post for the second part.