How House Wife, Daughter Connives to constantly torture two step-children in Bauchi

Samuel Luka, Bauchi

A woman whose two children are currently receiving medical attention at a hospital in Bauchi following constant torture and maltreatment from their stepmother has narrated her pains in a chat with reporters in Bauchi on Wednesday.

Habiba Sani Khalid of Bakin Kura area of the Bauchi metropolis who is a divorcee alleged that one of the children, a three-year-old girl, Sumaiya Yakubu almost died of torture from her stepmother.

Habiba said that the stepmother starved her two children, beat them unnecessarily, adding that the three-year-old girl was being punished with fire by her 18-year-old half-sister in the presence of the step-mother.

According to her, the 18-year-old half-sister was in the habit of using fire from firewoods to torture the little three-year-old toddler on her back whenever she was asked to clean her after defecation.

Habiba who further alleged that the stepmother often beat both Sumaiya and her five-year-old brother, Abubakar Yakubu indiscriminately, said she was in the habit of starving them at will.

The divorcee who told reporters that the elder half-sister of her children did that in the presence of her mother and father, said that the cat was let out of the bag when her ex-husband called on the phone to inform her about the situation.

“It was their father that later called me on phone and asked me to come and pick my children. He said, if I didn’t carry them, he wouldn’t bother about their plight because he has other children to take care of”, Habiba said.

“I declined to go and pick the children, so he eventually sent the girl to me. I realized that she was seriously starved. She asked me for food. I also saw wounds of beating and burns on her body”, she added.

“When I asked her, she narrated her ordeals to me. Her relative who also saw the girl’s condition wept and posted her pictures on social media, it went viral and attracted the attention of human rights organizations who came to Bauchi to bring us succor”, Habiba further explained.

Speaking on the situation, a human rights activist and Executive Director of Syndicate In Supporting Women And Children Initiative (SISWACHI), Hajiya Binta Adamu Ibrahim said she was called from their headquarters in Abuja and asked to intervene in the matter to ensure justice is done for the victims.

Binta Adamu who said their organization has been dealing with sexual and gender-based violence cases, however, said that this torture case was odd.

She said as part of their response, the organization reported the matter to the township police station in Bauchi which led to the arrest of the father of the victims, their stepmother, and the elder half-sister.

Binta who described the torture on the children as severe noted that that informed the decision of her organization to register for medical care at Tashan Babiye hospital, adding that they almost looked as skeletons due to malnutrition before succor was brought to them by the organization.

On his part, the doctor in charge of the treatment of the victims, Mark Garba recalled that the children were malnourished and highly dehydrated at the time they were brought to the hospital.

The Doctor who said that the conditions of the victims have grossly improved pointed out that the hospital is capable of “handling more severe cases than this”.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Bauchi State Command, ASP Ahmed Wakili confirmed the incident, adding that the culprits have been charged to court for prosecution.