Justina Asishana, Minna
The Niger State Child Rights Agency has rescued a 10-year-old boy who was reportedly chained by his father for refusing to go to school.
The boy was beaten, chained and left alone in the house by his father, Mallam Abubakar, The Nation learnt.
The boy was said to have crawled to the entrance of the house to get neighbours’ attention.
The boy was rescued yesterday morning when neighbours called the attention of an official of the Agency, Ezekiel Gana, over the issue.
The boy was taken with the chains tied to his hands and legs to the Child Rights Agency where the padlock used to secure the chains was broken.
Speaking to The Nation, the boy said it was the first time his father, who is a cleric, was chaining him, disclosing that he was usually tied with a rope.
The victim said that the reason his father chained him was that his headteacher reported that he did not come to school.
He said that on getting home on Tuesday, his father beat him up, refused to give him food and chained him, adding that he left the house the following morning, leaving him in chains.
In his defence, Abubakar said his son had not been going to school and returns late at night despite several warnings.
He said that he meant no harm, and that it was just his way of disciplining the boy in order for him not to become wayward.
Speaking further, the boy’s father said he did not mean to leave him in the morning but that he was called to a naming ceremony which he had to attend.
Agency man, Gana, who rescued the victim, explained said Abubakar, the boy’s father, was a second-time offender, adding that he had been first warned on his cruelty to children under his care in his Islamic school.
He said the father was first unwilling to report to the Agency despite the rescue of the son, adding that security agents attached to the agency had to pick him up from his house.
Former Director-General of the Agency Mariam Kolo described the act as an abuse, saying it is not a way of correcting a child.
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Kolo who was on a visit to the Agency in acting capacity, said, “No matter who you are or the offence committed, you have no right to chain up a child. The anti-torture act of 2017 is totally against it.
“As a second-time offender, there is no excuse for what he did. We are referring it to the CID and we will ensure that justice takes its course.”
Legal Officer of the agency, Ladidi Azuwah said, “This is beyond trying to discipline a child. Why would a parent padlock his child and refuse to feed him? That is not normal for whatsoever wrong he did.”
She said the agency will ensure the father is prosecuted while the child will be taken to hospital for treatment and re-integrated with his mother, who is separated from the father.
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