A 17-year-old, allegedly kept captive in a goat cage by her aunt for more than a week in Rikkos, Jos North Local Government Area of the state, has been rescued by the Plateau State Police Command.
She was saved after a neighbor notified Jos’ National Human Rights Commission, who then called the police.
According to The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the aunt was always abusing and starving the girl, who was an orphan.
On Friday, November 18, 2022, Mrs. Grace Pam, the Plateau coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission, issued a statement confirming the girl’s rescue.
In her words;
“The commission received information from an anonymous complainant that the girl was locked up on the balcony of a house by her aunt. She was living with her grandmother before she came to the aunt’s house because the grandmother was ill and could not continue to care for her.
The complainant alleged that the aunt traveled for close to a week and left the girl without food. Investigation revealed that the girl was truly malnourished and had scars on her hands, neck, and other parts of her body.
The marks resulted from incessant beatings she received from her aunt. The matter was reported to the police where the aunt’s statement was taken upon return from her trip.
The girl has been provided with temporary shelter until she recovers. We also found out that the orphan girl was never allowed to go out, but was locked up in the house and not fed. She has been taken to hospital by one of our partners to ensure proper medical care”
Pam lamented the recent rise in incidents of child abuse and appealed with citizens to stop abuses, pointing out that “as we speak, there is a case of another victim, a nine-year-old girl, who came to stay with her aunt barely two months ago. We had to rescue her on Thursday from her aunt; she beat her mercilessly, but thank God, she did not get her blind, but got her injured in the eye. We took her to the hospital on Friday with scars resulting from serious beatings.
When our staff went there, she was locked up in a zinc house where the aunt keeps her goats. The girl is looking forward to going back to her parents” she said.
