File photo of the starved child
ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi –
A 33-year old woman, Ms. Habiba Khalid, a resident of Bakin kura, a sub-urb of Bauchi metropolis, has stated that seeing her co-wife prosecuted, punished and put on handcuffs, will pacify her.
She said that this is because her rival connived with her 18-year daughter to torture and starve her two children while her former husband did nothing to stop them.
Khalid who spoke to journalists at the Tashan Babiye Hospital, Bauchi, where her two children, a five-year old boy and three and a half-year old girl, are currently undergoing treatment.
She told journalists that she and her husband had divorced and she left with her two children back to her father’s house about three years ago but he (ex-husband) requested her to bring them to spend some time and celebrate the Sallah in his house.
According to her, since then, the children were not allowed to return to her place explaining that her rival’s daughter would torture and starve them at the slightest offence or opportunity.
She added that severally, her rival’s daughter would use burning firewood to burn her daughter on her back when she was asked to clean her defecation, alleging that this was always done in the presence of her mother.
“It was their father that later called me on the 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 had other children he cared for”.
“I refused to go and pick them, so he eventually sent the girl to me. I realized that she was staggering. She asked me for food. I also saw wounds and burns on her body as a result of torture” she narrated.
“I asked her what happened to her and she narrated her ordeals. Her relative who also saw the girl’s condition wept and posted her pictures on social media, and it went viral and attracted the attention of human rights organizations who came to Bauchi to bring us succour.”
She said she reported the incident to the Township Police Division and her ex-husband were arrested.
Ms. Khalid, therefore, demanded justice for the inhumane treatment melted on her children
“I want my co-wife to be prosecuted and punished and it should go to the media so that the whole world will see her and she should explain why she did all that. I want to see her wearing handcuffs and that is all I want because that will pacify me”.
“I also want to see my ex-husband also punished for the role he played because they are his children but he chose to treat them as if they are not humans. If they are both punished, it will serve as deterrent to them and to others”.
“I really want to see her being punished and she suffers so that she learns a lesson.”
When asked, if she would take the children back to their father’s house after the case, she said: “Never! I will never do that. In fact, I will never allow them go to that house except when they are grown up and they decided to go there, but even at that, they won’t be there for more than five minutes.”
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Bauchi State Command, Ahmed Wakil, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, confirmed the incident.
He however did not give further details because “the matter has been charged to court.”