A married woman simply identified as Mrs Sunday has appealed for the intervention of government and other members of the public for the rescue of her son who was allegedly used as collateral by her husband to borrow money.
Mrs Sunday and her daughter, Sarah Sunday, claimed that their father, Mr Sunday, took his son identified as Stephen to a Catholic priest in Nsofang village of Cross River State, kept him with him after borrowing some substantial amount of money from the cleric.
Both the mother and daughter lamented that their efforts to retrieve Stephen from the custody of the priest have proved abortive.
They revealed to a human rights activist, Harrison Gwamnishu, that Stephen, aged 17, has been languishing in a room that the priest kept him, crying out that the teenager’s legs have started to stink owing to untreated ailment on his leg.
Despite Stephen’s pitiable condition, they said the priest has refused to let him be reunited with them.
They called on the rights activist and other well meaning Nigerians to come to their aid.
It was revealed that Stephen’s father disappeared after allegedly collecting the undisclosed loan and leaving his son with the lender.
Making public the complainant, Gwamnishu disposed that he would be visiting Cross River to mobilise Stephen’s rescue, calling on Cross River State Government and others for help.
In a post Gwamnishu made on his page on Wednesday, he said, “A complaint has been filed by Sarah Sunday, alleging that her 17-year-old brother, Stephen, is being held against his will by Rev Father Daniel Echa Ogar of St Daniel Parish Nsofang Village, Cross Rivers State.
“I have spoken to the Rev Father, who denied lending money to the boy’s father and also begged him to release the boy to his mother; however, he refused, stating that it was the father who brought the boy to him and it is the father’s responsibility to take the boy back. The father is nowhere to be found.
“Stephen, 17-year-old, is in a critical condition, with one leg severely infected, and requires immediate medical attention to prevent amputation.
“This is an intervention appeal to the Cross River State Government to intervene and rescue Stephen.”
A video posted by Gwamnishu showed Stephen lying critically ill on the floor of a room with scary sores on his right leg.