Who will save children from unending domestic abuse? By Eno-Abasi SundayWho will save children from unending domestic abuse? By Eno-Abasi Sunday

 

What would cause Miss Busola Oyediran, a mother who laboured to bring to life, two teen sons (aged five and two) to turn around and allegedly dehumanise them alongside her partner, Akebiara Emmanuel, is what Magistrate Bola Osunsanmi of the Samuel Ilori Magistrate Court, Ogba, Ikeja area of Lagos State, will be trying to decipher in the days and months ahead  Oyediran and her lover, Emmanuel (said to be the kids’ step-father) are facing a four-count charge bordering on the unlawful treatment of a child, unlawful infliction of injuries on a minor, unlawful assault of a child, and felony to cause harm. 

  
The Lagos State government charged the duo to court on January 16, 2022, for physically assaulting her biological children in the Egbeda area of the state, a few weeks after the kids were rescued by the police after neighbours reported that their mother was torturing them endlessly. 

Expectedly, the victims presented a very sad spectacle of man’s inhumanity to man, when their violators were paraded by the police. Etched on their innocent bodies, were scars and physical injuries, which spoke volumes of what they have been through.

As the nation battled to come to terms with the assault on the brothers, by their mum and her lover, everyone was, last Thursday, jolted by the arrest of a woman, Mrs. Upev, by the Benue State Police Command, on the suspicion of killing her 10-year-old stepson, Fanen Yange. 
  
A statement signed by the command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Catherine Anene, a superintendent of police (SP) said that the incident occurred on January 23, 2023, describing it as a case of culpable homicide, which was reported at E Police Division, Makurdi.
“Preliminary investigation reveals that the deceased, Fanen Yange, 10, of International Market Area, Makurdi, was alleged by his stepmother, Mrs. Upev, to have stolen meat from the pot, and consequently beaten him up during the early hours of the day, but when the victim went to sleep at night, he could not wake up.”
  
The remains of Fanen, who was confirmed dead by a doctor, were deposited at the Bishop Murray Hospital morgue, in Makurdi, for autopsy, while investigation into his demise continues. 
  
In most cases, the joy that the birth of a newborn brings to their immediate and extended families, as well as society is beyond comprehension. This explains why most parents pull all stops to celebrate their arrivals amid pomp.
  
But how these bundles of joy quickly become sources of pains, or loathsome creatures that only beastly treatment from their parents, guardians, and caregivers is what many are unable to fathom. 
Virtually every week, gory images of abused children grace the media space leaving many to wonder whether humanity is beginning to run out of patience for children. Indeed, at the frequency, with which this is happening, many are wondering whether an end to child abuse is anywhere within sight. 
  
With 20 million of them being out of school in the country, and with no hopes of acquiring formal education, a good number of them roam the streets from sunrise to nightfall, and they pass the night in found spaces. Saved from weather vagaries and sundry vicissitudes, the ones that are fortunate enough to have roofs over their heads are routinely abused by their parents, guardians, master/mistresses, and relatives. This unfortunate scenario makes inevitable, the question, ‘who will save the Nigerian child?’
  
For context, child abuse refers to any action initiated by a parent, caregiver, guardian, or any other person, in addition to institutions or organisations that are capable of causing physical or emotional harm, risk of serious harm, injury, or even death to a child, whether through deliberate action, or failure to act. 
  
Child abuse, which is multi-faceted includes, exploitation, physical and sexual abuse, neglect, and emotional abuse. Specifically, child maltreatment constitutes neglect and all shades of abuse and exploitation, which result in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, continued existence, development, or dignity in the context of a relationship among others.
  
Domestic violence or abuse, experts say, contributes in no small way to inequalities that children face in society, including in education, and victims of domestic violence, according to stakeholders have a 13 per cent greater likelihood of not graduating from school.