Residents of Osogbo, capital of Osun State were outraged after a mother, simply identified as Risikat, battered her nine-year-old daughter, Faridah Akeem for allegedly failing to close the door to their room.
Timely intervention of the officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in the state saved the girl from being clubbed to death by her enraged mother.
The mother was reported to have mercilessly beaten the girl with turning stick and inflicted injuries on her.
The girl sustained injuries on her hand, mouth and body. She was brought to the NSCDC ambulance with stretcher as it was difficult for her to walk after security agents rescued her from her mother’s hands.
After neighbours alerted the corps, Risikat was apprehended after some resistance.
The victim was brought out of the house and attended to by some medics on a stretcher.
Narrating her ordeals after she was stabilised, the minor said, “My mother beat me after accusing me of leaving the door open. She said I opened the door to our room and despite begging her, she started using the stick we use in turning eba to beat me. She refused to stop while I was crying and she threatened to kill me.”
Speaking on how the girl was rescued, the suspect’s landlord, Adeyemo Rafiu, said, “When I saw the way the woman was beating her daughter, I felt so sad because it was a merciless beating and I had to intervene. The Civil Defence officers came but she refused arrest. But, later, she was overpowered after the civil defence called for reinforcement.”
While in the custody of the civil defence, the mother refused to talk on what prompted her action.
Officials of a non-profit organization, Value Female Network, the officials of State Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, and a Child Rights Advocate, Aduke Obelawo provided necessary support to the victim and her three years old sister, Awa.
The activist said the woman might have acted based on frustration occasioned worsening economic hardship in the country.
Obelawo said, “The situation that has happened is a pointer to what is happening in the society. Our society is no longer safe for our children; even for fathers and mothers as well. We have been trying to trail this issue and we discovered that the underlining factor is the hardship in the country. The hardship is turning people into something else. The hardship, inability to meet up with demands of our time, the necessities of life is really frustrating.”
Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to Osun Governor on Health, Adekunle Akindele, directed the management of the Osun State University Teaching Hospital to give free medical care to the girl.
It was gathered that the woman, an indigene of Kwara State, relocated to Osogbo from Ibadan, Oyo State about three months ago.
