BY AGNES NWORIE, ABAKALIKI
A woman identified as Scholar Nwachukwu has been arrested by men of the Ebonyi State Police Command for allegedly torturing her house helps for reportedly stealing garri and coconut.
Ugochi Nnabu and Ukamaka Nwachi, the underaged domestic assistants live with Nwachukwu, mother of three in Ikwo, Ikwo Local Government Area of the state, who is reportedly in the habit of torturing the helps.
Nabu and Nwachi have reportedly sustained bruises on their bodies as a result of persistent battery by the woman.
The matter was said to have been taken up by some human rights activists and gender-based violence groups reported to have led the police to arrest the woman.
Faith Nwancho, state coordinator of GBV Task Force team, and Mathias Okinya, said, “I, Faith, and Matthias led the team of police to effect the arrest. The police is currently doing their bit and we are confident that the right thing would be done so as to serve as a deterrent to other wicked women.
“We were able to locate the residential address of little Ukamaka Nwachi. I went with Okinya Mathias. At the address, we saw her bullying aunty, Nwachiukwu Scholar, mother of three, of Ikwo origin.
“Shockingly, as we were there, we saw another victim of the wicked woman’s maltreatment and starvation. The name of the second victim is Ugochi Nnabu (12-year-old). She also lives with the woman as a house help.
“When interviewed, the obviously malnourished and unkept children told us that their aunty was always beating and starving them. Even as at the time of our visit (10:38am), they had not taken breakfast. Even the devil would shed tears seeing the condition of the children.
“They also told us that their mothers are in their respective Ikwo villages and they are living with their aunty as house helps because their families could not afford better lives for them at the moment.
“When asked, their aunty initially tried to deny the act but later confessed that she used to beat them because they stole. She said that the girls used to steal coconut and garri the neighbours’ shops and houses and she beats them so that they would repent. If the children were well fed, would they be stealing garri and coconut belonging to neighbours?”
