Police rescue caged, malnourished teenager in Jos
The police in Jos have rescued a 17-year-old malnourished girl, locked up by her aunt for upwards of one week in Rikkos, Jos North LGA of Plateau.
A neighbour alerted the National Human Rights Commission in Jos after which the police were invited leading to her rescue.
It was reported that the aunt was fond of maltreating and starving the girl, an orphan.
Coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission in Plateau, Grace Pam, confirmed the girl’s rescue.
“The Commission received information from an anonymous complainant that the girl was locked up on the balcony of a house by her aunt.
“She was living with her grandmother before she came to the aunt’s house because the grandmother took ill and could not continue to care for her.
“The complainant alleged that the aunt travelled for close to a week and left the girl without food.
“Investigation revealed that the girl was truly malnourished and had scars on her hands, neck and other parts of her body.
“The marks resulted from incessant beatings she received from her aunt.
“The matter was reported to the police where the aunt’s statement was taken upon return from her trip. The girl has been provided with temporary shelter until she recovers.
“We also found out that the orphan girl was never allowed to go out, but locked up in the house and not fed.
“She has been taken to hospital by one of our partners to ensure proper medical care,” Mrs Pam said
Mrs Pam lamented increasing cases of abuse of minors in the last few days, stressing that “as we speak, there is a case of another victim, a nine-year-old girl, who came to stay with her aunt barely two months ago.
“We had to rescue her on Thursday from her aunt; she beats her mercilessly, but thank God, she did not get her blind, but got her injured in the eye.
“We took her to the hospital on Friday with scars resulting from serious beatings.
“When our staff went there, she was locked up in a zinc house where the aunt keeps her goats.
“The girl is looking forward to going back to her parents,” the coordinator said, appealing to Plateau citizens to stop rights abuses.
She said when apprehended, the Child Rights Law, Violence against Persons Prohibition, Gender and Equal Opportunities Law and others, already domesticated in the state, would be used to prosecute abusers.
(NAN)
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
States
Independence: NBA urges Nigerians to expect better future
The NBA said that ordinary Nigerians should be deriving benefit from the subsidy removal rather than hardship.
Agriculture
FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology
The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
Rights
Nigeria questions UN femicide data, seeks stronger action against women trafficking
Nigeria has raised concerns about the reliability of international statistics on femicide in Africa, citing inadequate data collection and reporting mechanisms.
World
Trump admin to livestream Fort Hood shooter’s public execution, says Pentagon
Mr Hegseth told Real America’s Voice that Mr Hasan would be executed by firing squad to send a message that there are consequences for terrorist acts.
Diaspora
Adetoros, Walters: Three sisters who drowned in sea like their mother died by suicide, coroner rules
Their mother, Ms Janice, drowned at sea at the age of 43.
Economy
Nigeria pushes global tax reforms, cheaper development loans at UN
Nigeria has called for urgent reforms of the international financial architecture to address high borrowing costs and persistent development financing gaps.
Economy
Board chairman, co-owner of Nodus Bank jailed 62 months for multimillion-dollar wire fraud
The former board chairman and co-owner of Nodus International Bank has been sentenced to 62 months in prison for wire fraud.
Anti-Corruption
Fraudster convicted for defrauding crypto exchange Uranium Finance of $50 million
Jonathan Spalletta has been convicted of computer fraud and money laundering in connection with his hacks of the decentralised cryptocurrency exchange Uranium Finance.
