The Nigeria Police Force has rescued a 17-year-old girl locked up by her aunt in Rikkos, Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The woman allegedly travelled for one week without caring for the teenager.
Fate saved the little girl who had become malnourished when a neighbour reportedly alerted the National Human Rights Commission in Jos, after which the police were invited, leading to her rescue.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that her aunt was fond of maltreating and starving the girl, who was identified as an orphan.
Speaking on the incident, the Coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission in Plateau, Mrs Grace Pam, revealed that the Commission had received information from an anonymous complainant that the girl was locked up on the balcony of a house by her aunt.
Pam said that the little girl was living with her grandmother before she came to the aunt’s house because the grandmother took ill and could not continue to care for her.
She said, “The complainant alleged that the aunt travelled for close to a week and left the girl without food.”
According to her “Investigation revealed that the girl was truly malnourished and had scars on her hands, neck and other parts of her body.
“The marks resulted from incessant beatings she received from her aunt.”
She further noted that based on the Commission’s investigation, the matter was reported to the police, and the aunt’s statement was taken upon her return from her trip.
“The girl has been provided with temporary shelter until she recovers. We also found out that the orphan girl was never allowed to go out, but was locked up in the house and not fed.
“She has been taken to hospital by one of our partners to ensure proper medical care,’’ she said
Lamenting the increasing cases of abuse of minors in the last few days, the NHRC Coordinator, stated “as we speak, there is a case of another victim, a nine-year-old girl, who came to stay with her aunt barely two months ago.
“We had to rescue her on Thursday from her aunt; she beats her mercilessly, but thank God, she did not get her blind, but got her injured in the eye.
“We took her to the hospital on Friday with scars resulting from serious beatings.”
She added, “When our staff went there, she was locked up in a zinc house where the aunt keeps her goats.
“The girl is looking forward to going back to her parents,’’ she said.
The coordinator appealed to citizens to stop rights abuses.
She said that when abusers are apprehended, the Child Rights Law, Violence against Persons Prohibition, Gender and Equal Opportunities Law, and others, already domesticated in the state, will be used to prosecute them.
