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From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Commissioner, Kaduna State’s Ministry of Human Services and Social Development, Hajiya Hafsat Mohammed-Baba on Friday talked tough over the ‘disappearance’ of a 13-year-old housemaid, Janet Audu, who was allegedly battered with hot water by her caregiver.
To Hafsat, the Kaduna State has laws enacted to offer welfare and protection to children in the state which must be partly implemented by her ministry, hence, her call for justice for children whose rights are being violated including the latest survivor of such – Janet Audu, an Adara girl from Kajuru local government area of the State.
About a week ago, the social and conventional media were filled with gory pictures of the girl and that of her madam who is a staff of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
According to the commissioner, “Janet’s offence was that she was warming her madam’s soup and at the same time packing the laundering as it was about to rain. But, before she could pack the laundry, the soup got burnt and that attracted the anger of the madam and her two children (14 and 10 years) as we were informed.
“We cannot just keep quiet because we have laws in place and people have been pressurising us to implement these laws.
“Unfortunately this child was not taking to a hospital and even when an attempt was made, by the Police, a former commissioner for women affairs in the state resisted that effort by the police. As we speak, I don’t know the whereabouts of this child and that gave us a serious concern as a government ready to protect our children.
“We are soliciting the support of the public to ensure the child has good healthcare. We learnt that the insecurity in Kajuru was responsible for the child being ‘trafficked’ to Kaduna so she can go to school. We learnt also that, the child was exposed to labour as a housemaid which is an offence in Kaduna State.
“We believed that shading this child from accessing healthcare is an offence. Child trafficking and child labour are also offences.
“We have sent letters of complaint to the affected ministries and agencies including the Federal Road Safety Corps where the perpetrator works because we don’t want the girl to die due to her inability to get treated.
“The Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai has indicated an interest in this case and we have been keeping him posted on the progress we make with the support of the Police, layers and other critical stakeholders working collaboratively to ensure justice is served.
“If this child were to be theirs, would they have allowed her to be treated as such by anybody? It is our responsibility as a government to protect our children including Janet Audu.
“We learnt that because the perpetrator has people in the corridor of power which we don’t know. As far as this child is concerned, there is no one in the corridor of power that is above being prosecuted. The law must take its course and we will follow this to a legal conclusion that will see Janet being healthy, reunited with her family and return to school”, she said.
When contacted, Police Public Public Relations Officer for the Kaduna State Police Command, ASP Muhammed Jalige, said, “a former commissioner for women affairs in the State, Maria Dogo, has been creating distance between the Police and the biological parents of the girl”.
Jalige said, the case is already in court and the command will extend its search for the biological parents of the girl by next week.
