Police arrest woman for battering 12 year old step-daughter in Imo
By Athan Agbakwuru, Owerri
The Police in Imo State have arrested a secondary school teacher, Mrs. Blessing Emmanuel, for allegedly dehumanizing her 12 year- old step daughter, Amarachi Emmanuel.
Mrs. Emmanuel, a teacher, was arrested last Tuesday by operatives of Owerri Area Command Headquarters of the Police following a complaint laid by an Owerri based journalist cum activist, Chidiebube Okeoma.
The victim’s plight was brought to the journalist’s attention by two concerned women, Eunice and and Amarachi, who accosted the little girl selling sachet water on the streets of Owerri with fresh bruises all over her body.
Okeoma who confirmed the arrest of the woman to our correspondent on Thursday, revealed that he took the girl to Umuguma General hospital in Owerri, where she is currently receiving intensive medical attention.
His words, “Amarachi Emmanuel is 12 years old. Her mother died in 2018 and his father married the suspect in 2019. They live in Nekede area of Owerri. The girl and her two siblings are out of school for years now.
The woman commanded them to be hawking satchet water for her everyday and be making returns to her while their mates are in school.
“The girl told me that her step mother dehumanizes them. They sell pure water for her from morning till night and mostly go to bed hungry. The latest bartering was because the girl said she cooked rice and ate without the woman’s permission and on getting home, the woman battered her.
“I took the girl to Owerri Area Command and got the woman arrested, immediately. In order to save the girl’s life, I took her to Umuguma General hospital where she was admitted. I have also enrolled her into the Imo State Health Insurance Scheme for vulnerable children in the state.
“I have involved National Human Rights commission, Owerri Municipal Council Welfare Department and the Imo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.
“Many Human Rights Organizations have also contacted me in regards to this case. The Owerri branch of the Nigeria Bar Association has also contacted me. Various media organizations are interested in the girl’s matter now.
“Bartering of children has no place in the 21st century. Police are investigating and my request is that the woman be arraigned. The woman turned the girl and her siblings to slaves, simply because their mother is late and their father is medically unstable.
“I want to get the girl and her siblings off the streets. My idea is to enroll her in a school and her siblings too. Currently, they leave in a shanty. They will need a decent apartment once she gets back on her feet, again.
“Her laps, eyes, genitals, left leg, right hand and stomach were battered with burns and machete cuts. Little Amarachi Emmanuel needs all of us now. Let us tell her that humanity is not wicked. There are compassionate Nigerians all over.”
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Police in the state, Henry Okoye, disclosed that the state Commissioner of Police, Aboki Danjuma, had ordered that the right things be done in the matter.
