•One murders six-year-old niece, another skins eight-month-old son alive
From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
It is no longer news that man’s inhumanity to man is on the increase in recent times, it is however of great concern to many when such happens within blood relations who are naturally expected to protect one another.
This act being perpetrated because of misunderstanding, betrayal of trust and get mone quick syndrome among others, has separated a lot of immediate family members and relatives permanently.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), more than 300,000 children lost their lives in the last 12 years because of the insurgency ravaging the North East region alone.
These statistics excluded other children killed through kidnapping and sexual and gender-based violence like rape and battery among others across the country.
Many wonder why these crimes against children are not declining despite several laws prohibiting and punishing the offenders.
For example, in addition to the penal codes of Kaduna State, the Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) policy and Child Welfare and Protection Law, forbid inflicting physical and emotional pain on any child in the state with gracious punishment for defaulters.
A few weeks ago, a young Kaduna man, Abdulazeez Idris, reportedly lured, kidnapped, murdered and dumped his six-year-old niece, Aisha Saidu’s body in a disused well over delay in payment of the ransom demanded from his low-income earning parents.
The suspect had demanded N8 million ransom from the girl’s parents who pleaded that they could not raise the amount due to their current financial status which made the girl to be in the custody of her ‘cousin’ for about five days.
The incident happened at Angwan Juma’a, Zaria, Zaria Local Government Area of Kaduna State on February 12, 2024, at about 1pm when the young girl was on her way to an evening Islamic (Islamiyya) school.
Spokesman for the Kaduna State police command, ASP Mansir Hassan, who confirmed the unfortunate development on May 12, said the father of the girl, Mr. Saidu Dahiru, had on the same day reported the matter at a police station in Zaria.
The murdered girl, Aisha, who was the daughter of the suspect father’s younger sister, had acted like a child she was when she queried the intention of his nephew for taken her away from home for days.
“Following her disappearance, Mr. Dahiru received a phone call from an unknown individual, who was later identified as the perpetrator, demanding a ransom of ₦8 million.
“The case was transferred to the anti-kidnapping unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Kaduna, where they traced, lured and arrested the perpetrator, identified as Abdulazeez Idris, somewhere in Makarfi local government area of the state.
“The suspect confessed to the heinous crime, admitting to slaying Aisha by brutally slashing her neck with a razor on the account that she recognised him and then went on to dispose her lifeless body in a well,” Mansir said.
In a separate but related incident, a Kaduna-based businessman simply identified as Chinedu, allegedly went berserk and critically injured his eighth-month-old son with an object suspected to be a gun boot.
The incident was revealed to have occurred during a fisticuff with his wife over a private matter that ensued between them on May 7 in their apartment in Kwoi Street, Sabo, Chikun local government area of the state.
Daily Sun’s independent preliminary investigations revealed that the injured baby was rushed to Harmony Hospital, Barnawa, Kaduna South local government area of the state, where he was saved and discharged in good condition.
A source in the hospital who spoke in confidence said: “The child was rushed here in critical condition but with the help of God, the hospital was able to save him. He was in good condition when he was discharged”.
Actions like Chinedu’s towards children increase pervasive psychosocial distress, manifesting in the forms of anxiety, suspiciousness, anger, aggressiveness, instability, and hyper-vigilance among children who survived domestic violence.
Speaking on the development, the Commissioner for Human Services and Social Development, Hajiya Rabi Salisu, frowned at the alleged violence against the little boy, saying the long hand of the law would catch up with the perpetrators who have been on the run since the day of the Incidence.
The police authority in the state said it is on the trail of Chinedu for questioning. Meanwhile, efforts to reach both Chinedu and his wife for comments were unsuccessful as both of them have vacated their house when a group of civil society visited.
But a source close to the family hinted that Chinedu regretted his actions immediately after the incident and wept bitterly before he ran away for fear of being arrested by the police.