A Non- Governmental Organisation, Child Protection Network, has vowed to ensure justice for the 9-year-old boy, Korede Taiwo, allegedly put in chains for weeks by his father in Atan, Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State.
Korede’s father, who is a pastor of a church in the area, had bound his son’s hands and legs with chains for allegedly stealing a piece of meat from his step-mother’s pot of soup, before the young boy was rescued on Sunday by security agents.
Condemning the maltreatment of the child by his father, CPN said that it would ensure adequate follow-up on the case in order to ensure all those involved in the crime were appropriately punished.
The network, in a statement by its Coordinator, Peju Osoba, disclosed that the group was also partnering with the state government to render both medical and psychological support to Korede.
Osoba described the news of boy’s maltreatment by his father as “shocking,” noting that the clergyman could not justify the brutal manner he had treated his child.
“We condemn this act in its totality because it is the height of insensitivity and wickedness. Nobody has the right to treat a child in this manner, no matter the offence,” she said.
The CPN also praised the efforts of the operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the police in the state for their swift intervention, resulting in the rescue of the boy and the arrest of the perpetrators.
The statement further read, “The Child Protection Network in Ogun has been in touch with the police and the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and have begun collaborative efforts in the offer of medical and psychological support to the boy.
“We will also work with the agencies of government to see to the wellbeing of his other siblings, as we begin a search for them to extend support to them, as it may be required.
“We also wish to affirm that we are following up on all reported cases of child abuse in the state and will be willing to offer support to the children who are affected by such abuses.”
Also, three other NGOs, have urged the Federal Government to put an end to the dangerous trend of branding vulnerable children as witches or possessed.
The United Kingdom-based charity, Africans Unite Against Child Abuse, the Nigeria’s Centre for Children’s Health Education, Orientation and Protection and the Humanist Association for Peace and Social Tolerance Advancement, said it was time the Nigerian government showed her commitment towards putting an end to ordeal of vulnerable children.
The NGOs said, “We are appalled by the indifference the Nigerian government is showing towards the welfare of children, especially the lack of political will to see through cases involving gross abuse of children and non-implementation of the Child Rights Act.
This recent incident is a wake-up call for the government to take up her statutory responsibility and duty to protect citizens, especially vulnerable groups such as children, from harm.”
