Wickedness taken to another level as an 8-year-old boy was allegedly scarred with hot iron by his aunt in Calabar because the little boy ate the N50 groundnut she left in the house.
WITHIN NIGERIA learnt that the incident which is a gross abuse of human rights occurred at Anantigha, Calabar South, on Sunday, August 16, when the aunt returned from Sunday service to discover that the groundnut was gone.
According to report, the boy was questioned about the missing groundnut by his aunt before she later plugged in an electric iron and used it to burn his back and buttocks. The 8-year-old boy was also denied food after his aunt had used hot iron on him.
Further investigations revealed that the boy has been subjected to gross abuse since three years ago when he started living with his aunt owing to old scars on the boy’s burnt fingers.
Addressing newsmen on Monday, August 17, the Principal Counsel of Basic Rights Initiative, James Ibor Esq., said they received a call from Girl Power Initiative, GPI, about a lady who had been assaulting her nephew with hot iron, burning stove and other hot objects.
Ibor said she plugged an electric iron and burnt the boys back and buttocks because he ate the N50 left-over groundnut and that was not the first time that such was happening.
He said: “From what the boy has told us, which is also very visible, he has been tortured and traumatised, and the boy is in serious pains. From here we are taking him to a medical facility where he can get adequate care.
“We have written to the Police and the state Ministry of Humanities and Social Welfare to enable us take good care of him in our own shelter home, because we cannot allow the child to go back to the aunty again.
“We have also invited the father, because the mother is late. Further actions can be taken as he and two of his siblings live with the said aunty.
“It is unfortunate that this kind of dastardly act and injury can be inflicted on a child. Even if he ate the groundnut, there is no justification for this kind of wickedness.”
