The police in Imo State have arrested a man, identified as Lucky Adim, for allegedly using an electric cable to inflict multiple injuries on his 10-year-old daughter, Confidence Adim, in Owerri.
The suspect was arrested on Friday following a petition by the Stand for Humanity Foundation, a human rights organisation, after the child was brought to the organisation in a severely injured condition.
The President of the Foundation, Chidiebube Okeoma, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.
He said that the victim and her two younger siblings were rescued from the streets by concerned Nigerians and taken to the organisation for assistance.
According to Okeoma, the Foundation petitioned the Owerri Urban Divisional Police Headquarters, urging the police to investigate the alleged abuse, arrest the suspect and prosecute him.
He said the police subsequently arrested Adim, who, according to the organisation, admitted to assaulting his daughter.
He said: ‘Mr Lucky Adim was arrested by the police in Owerri on Friday. His arrest was initiated by us at Stand for Humanity Foundation after good Nigerians brought the brutalised child and her two younger siblings to us.’
According to him, the man used cable wire to brutalise his 10-year-old daughter and has owned up to the crime.
Okeoma said the Foundation took the victim to the Police Hospital in Owerri for medical treatment, while her two younger siblings were taken to an orphanage in Owerri for temporary care.
He added that the organisation was covering the victim’s medical expenses.
The child-rights advocate urged the police to prosecute the suspect, stressing that child abuse should not be treated as a private family matter.
He said: ‘Child abuse is not a family affair. It is a constitutional issue and punishable under Section 355 of the Criminal Code, Cap. C38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, as applicable in Imo State.’
Okeoma assured that the Foundation would pursue the matter through the appropriate legal channels, adding that the case should serve as a deterrent to parents who abuse their children.
The body insisted that the suspect be arraigned by the police so as to serve as a deterrent to parents who abuse their children, thinking that the law permits them.