Operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), attached to the Child Development Centre of the Ondo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, have arrested a woman, Bisola Anthony, for allegedly assaulting her daughter over inability to recite numerals.
Mrs Anthony was reported to have used a rod to beat her two-year-old daughter on Tuesday night at Danjuma Street, Akure South local government area of Ondo State, Punchng reports.
Neighbours intervened when they heard the victim’s cry and found out that the girl had sustained injuries from the rod used on her.
A neighbour, Tope Boyede, told Punchng: “The victim’s mother and I live in the same compound on Danjuma Street. How we got to know about the child being molested was that when the mother was beating her with a stirring rod, because she could not recite the numerals from one to 200, the neighbour, whose room is close to that of the child’s parents, heard the girl crying.
“Neighbours tried to rescue the girl from the mother, but what they saw was very bad; there was blood on the victim’s body. Apparently, the mother was teaching her daughter the numerals but when the victim could not recite them, the mother started beating her with a stirring rod. The child is just around two year old and the fact that she could not comprehend what the mother was teaching her shouldn’t make the mother beat her to the extent of inflicting injuries on her.
“I still saw the mother this morning (Tuesday) before I went to report at the ministry. When I got there, the ministry released some officials, who accompanied me to the house to arrest her. But when we got home, she had already fled with her children. I believe she went out as usual, but the officials have assured us that she would be arrested.”
Punchng reports that the Director, Child Development, Ondo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Oluwaniyi Ogunleye, has confirmed the suspect’s arrest as the child continues her recovery process.
