A 25-year-old woman has been arrested in Anambra State for physically abusing her nine-year-old female house help in the state.
The suspect, Chinyere Ifesinachi, was said to have used a pestle and other materials to inflict injuries on the girl.
Chidinma Ikeanyionwu, a media aide to the Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare in the state, Ify Obinabo, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.
Ms Ikeanyionwu said the suspect was arrested on Friday by the commissioner and handed over to the police in the state.
Mrs Ifesinachi, the suspect, is an indigene of Alor in Idemili South Council Area of Anambra State, but married to a man from Enugu, another state in south-east Nigeria.
The victim is her relative.
The statement said the case was immediately transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department of the police for investigation and prosecution.
Mrs Obinabo has warned that anyone caught abusing any child in Anambra state must face the consequences, Ms Ikeanyionwu said.
The commissioner also commended everyone who raised alarm and brought her attention to the incident just as she praised the police in the state for their consistent partnership with her ministry in ensuring such a situation was handled “professionally and in record time.”
“I am not doing this because of my appointment (as a commissioner), but for God and humanity,” Mrs Obinabo told Raye24reporters, Saturday afternoon.
She said some Nigerians in diaspora had paid off the first hospital bill of the child who was still undergoing medical examinations and treatments to ascertain the extent of damage inflicted by the suspect.
How the incident happened
The commissioner intervened after the matter went public earlier in the week, Raye24reporters learnt.
The child, it was learnt, had staggered outside carrying waste bins which the suspect had instructed her to dispose of when some residents observed that the girl’s face was bloated and there were several injuries on her body.
A Facebook user posted a video clip of the teenager being interrogated by some residents, who were visibly outraged by the incident.
In the clip, seen by our correspondent, the victim, who spoke incoherently due to pains caused by the injuries, said the suspect beat her to a pulp with pestle and cane because she dropped the suspect’s child on the ground.
The child’s two eyes were covered due to her swollen face. She was struggling to open her eyes.
The Facebook user said the incident happened at Enakwasumpu in Nkpor Agu, a community in Idemili North Local Government of Anambra State.
The commissioner later confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that the suspect was arrested from her apartment in the community after her ministry was notified of the incident.
‘It’s the devil’s handiwork’
Ms Ikeanyionwu said the suspect has confessed that she beat up the girl with a pestle and cane because the victim “threw” her child on the ground, but she asked the commissioner for forgiveness.
The suspect, in tears, claimed that her actions were orchestrated by the devil.
The victim’s parents speak
The victim’s parents, according to the statement, told the commissioner that it was out of pity that the girl was sent to live with the suspect because she (the suspect) recently delivered twins and was finding it difficult caring for the twins alone.
The parents said their daughter left home in March to stay with the suspect, but described as “unfortunate” the ill-treatments the victim received from the suspect barely two months after they started living together.
