Abayomi G. Omotayo
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I have heard and read horrific
stories of child abuse but the one that top the list in my heart is the story
of a frail looking, hunger ravaged, cadaverous little boy in Akwa Ibom that
came to limelight on 30 January, 2016. Accused of witchcraft and abandoned by
his family, he lived on the streets for eight months, survived on scraps and
unprotected from the elements. He was naked, stark naked. He was just two years
old. This little boy was found by Danish aid worker Anja Ringgren Loven. A year
on, this boy’s life has changed. From hopelessness to hope which indicatively
is the name he is now being called. That re-christening aptly fits. Now well
fed, chubby and looking very healthy. She recently shared his picture on his
first day of schooling. That picture, contrasted with the one she took a year ago,
side by side would be a strong contender for the Pulitzer Price for
Photography.
Sadly in Akwa Ibom not much has
changed in terms of these horrific cases of abuse under the guise of the
children being labeled as witches. Just few days ago, another boy was rescued
on the streets by the same lady one year after the popular case of Hope. The
only thing that perhaps has changed is that unlike before when these vulnerable
children are abandoned on the streets after gross abuse, they can now find succor
with Ms. Loven. But this is not enough, it glaringly indicates that the society
and the government have failed and continues to fail these children. These
incidents should not even occur in the first instance. Lest we forget, these
children are protected by law particularly the Child Rights Act 2003 enacted
into law by the National Assembly. Interestingly, Akwa Ibom is among the states
that have domesticated the law but it appears that the law is only effective on
paper.
This sad situation in Akwa Ibom is
not peculiar to the state alone, there are widespread and alarmingly increasing
cases of child abuse across Nigeria but the state is a pace setter in matters
of witchcraft accusation, abuse and torture of children. This is an unfortunate
irony considering the official slogan of the sate being the ‘Land of Promise’.
For these children, where is the promise? When at such an early stage they have
been stripped of their dignity, abused physically and psychologically. Thrown
to the streets in utter hopelessness and yet they are from the land of promise.
The state government missed a very big opportunity to stop this barbaric way of
treating children in the state with the case of Hope. He was from a family and
a community; he has parents especially a mother. Why was there no prosecution?
The state government should have taken that case up. The state’s Ministry of
Women Affairs and Social Justice in conjunction with the Ministry of Justice
should have made an example out of the parents of the boy. When people get away
with breaking the law and in the most barbaric way, definitely they will
continue breaking the law. This is a no brainer.
On this matter, the spotlight is on
Akwa Ibom (please google “Akwa Ibom and Witchcraft” and see heart rendering
stories, images and videos then you know will know why I have decided to focus
on the state) but it is a microcosm of Nigeria where we have laws but only
effective on paper. Where we have officials who will not wake up to their
duties and conveniently turn a blind eye to matters requiring attention because
it is considered not important. Most of these cases are from the largely poor
and uneducated folks so perhaps they are not very important to the government.
After all, this is Nigeria, the giant of Africa. Giants don’t get involved in
stuffs of minions like children issues.
These children’s weakness and
vulnerability are being exploited by very irresponsible parents with the
government inactively acting as accessory to these crimes by their inability to
take action. It is not only the children that are being hurt or disgraced or
punished which is the intention of these idiotic parents, we are hurting our
future as a nation, destroying our tomorrow and continuously disgracing our
humanity. The joke is on us
all.
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