Family Cruelty: Stepmother Dehumanises Stepchildren in Bauchi 

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BY ADEYEMI AKANJI, BAUCHI – It is a case that even the devil may have a second thought over, but it happened to two little children that are not in a position to appreciate what life is all about.

Their offence, was the sins of their mother who had the courage that was fueled by emotions and married their father but later got divorced without their knowledge, contribution or consent and left in the waiting brutal hands of their stepmother that had a different plan that was completely different from their initial upbringing in which they were cared for as children.

The sad mother of the battered children, Habiba Sani Khalid, a middle aged divorcee, who lives in Bakin Kura quarters of the Bauchi metropolis is now seeking for assistance from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and spirited individuals to come to her aide over the maltreatment and dehumanization through starvation and torture meted on her two children by their stepmother.

Narrating the incident to Journalists amidst tears, Habiba, who is presently taking care of the children at the Tashan Babiye General hospital in Bauchi where the ‘maltreated children’ are receiving medical attention alleged that one of the children, a three year old girl, Sumaiya Yakubu almost died of torture by her stepmother.

According to her, her children’s stepmother not only starved them but usually beat them mercilessly at every given time, stressing that worse of it was that the three year old girl was being punished with fire by her 18 year old elder half-sister in the presence of the stepmother.

Habiba further revealed that the elder half-sister used to take lit fire woods and put it on the girl’s back whenever she was asked to clean her after defecation while the step mother often beat both Sumaiya and her five year old brother, Abubakar Yakubu indiscriminately in addition to denying them food most of the times.

In the words of the sad and grieving mother; “The elder half-sister of Sumaiya did that in the presence of her mother and father. The severe maltreatment continued until the matter was exposed”.

The matter must have gotten to a point in which her former husband and father of the two children could no longer bear the pains of the dehumnanisation of his two kids from another mother that he was forced to call their mother to come and take them away.

Habiba said; “It was their father that had to call me on phone and asked me to come and pick my children, saying if I don’t come and carry them, he wouldn’t bother about their plight because he has other children he cares for.

“I declined to go and pick the children, but he eventually sent the girl to me and it was then I realized that she was staggering and immediately asked me for food. On close examination, I saw wounds of beating and burns all over her body.

“She was asked what happened to her and she narrated her ordeals. Her relative who also saw the girl’s condition wept and posted her pictures on social media which went viral and attracted the attention of human rights organizations who came to Bauchi to bring us succor,” she further said with pains and tears.

Speaking on the issue, a human rights activist and executive director of Syndicate In Supporting Women And Children Initiative (SISWACHI), Hajiya Binta Adamu Ibrahim said that she was called from their headquarters in Abuja and asked to intervene in the matter to ensure justice is done for the victims.

Ibrahim said her organization has been dealing with sexual and gender based violence cases uncovering, stressing that this particular torture case was odd.

She also said that as part of her organisation’s response, the case was reported to the township police station Bauchi which arrested the father, step mother and the elder half-sister of the victims.

Binta Ibrahim noted that the torture on the children were severe, a development that necessitated SISWACHI to take the battered children to Tashan Babiye hospital for medical attention.

In her words; “The children are looking like skeletons due to malnutrition before succour was brought to them by our organization”.

Also commenting, the medical doctor in charge of the treatment of the two maltreated children at the hospital, Dr. Mark A. Garba said when the children were brought, they were malnourished, highly dehydrated, adding that their conditions have now grossly improved.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of Bauchi state Command, DSP Ahmed Wakili confirmed the incident and said that the culprits have been charged to court.

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