A 34-year-old mother four, Mrs Ngozi Etenda, from Ndufu-Echara in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, has been arrested by the police over an alleged attempt to kill her own daughter with hot water over a missing red pen.
Nigerian Tribune reported that the incident occurred last weekend around 22:00hrs at No. 20 Onwe Road Abakaliki.
The 5-year-old girl, Miss Nmasichukwu Ekenda and a primary two pupil in an interview said: “I took a red pen I saw in our house and gave it to my uncle in school and when my mummy asked me about the red pen, I told her that I gave it to my uncle. Then my mummy flogged me and sent my sister to go and get our water flask so when she brought it, my mum opened it and started pouring the hot water on my body.”
A resident of the compound who was an eye witness, who condemned the action of the woman against her own daughter, worried why the woman did not regret her action even in the presence of the security agencies.
His words: “It was around 10:00 p.m. on Friday night that I had a child crying and within five minutes, I started hearing voices in the yard, so, I opened my door and saw Nmasichukwu with burnt injuries so I asked what happened, I was told that her own mother poured hot water on the child.
“What surprised me most was when we approached the woman, she was full of herself when replying our queries, even when we insisted that she should stop maltreating the child, she to us that she the girl is her child and that even if she wants to kill her, it is nobody’s business because she is her own.
“That made us to immediately alert the neighbourhood security since her husband was not at home before she kills the child. So, when the security came, they called their boss who is the Special Assistant to the Governor on Security Hon Saint Nchekube, who immediately called the police for her arrest.”
Other neighbours who spoke to Tribune Online appealed that the woman should be taken to a psychiatric hospital for proper examination.
According to them, no woman in her right senses can pour hot water on her own child no matter the level of crime the child must have committed.
However, in an interview with the special Assistant to Ebonyi State Governor on internal Security and Utility Hon Saint Nchekwube, who frowned at the bruises inflicted on the child by the hot water, vowed to ensure that the woman is charged to court for prosecution.
He warned parents never to treat their children with carelessness or subject them to any form of inhumane treatment, according to him, such treatment will affect the psyche of the kids.
The SA further wondered if the girl would ever forgive or trust her mother again for inflicting such pains on her because of N50 red pen.
However, when contacted, the Ebonyi State Police spokesperson DSP Loveth Odah, in a telephone interview to confirm the report, said she did not have the details of the report of the time of filing this report.
•Source: Nigerian Tribune
