The news report of Favour Anigbogu, the nine years old girl burnt with a hot iron by her mistress, one Ginika Nabefe is one too many acts of wickedness by adults to children in recent times.
From dislocating a child’s arm, to burning another child with fire, to scorching with hot iron another child’s bare back, to hitting a nail on yet another child’s head; adults who have been given children to care for have been found to constantly brutalise the wards in their care. The surprising thing is, the highest culprits are women; women who also happen to be mothers.
In Favour’s case, she was given by her parents who live in Anambra state to Apostle and Ginika Nabefe who reside in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, to serve as maid but instead of being paid it was agreed that Favour be sent to school by her benefactors.
Favour fell out of favour with Mrs. Nabefe and was brutalized with deep head injuries.
Her offence?
She was being stubborn!
Favour Anigbogu is 9 years old; given to play, given to being forgetful, given to always being hungry and telling lies when cornered; lies that any adult can easily decipher…
At age nine, Favour isn’t expected to understand that she would not be favoured in the Nabefe household; she won’t understand why the Nabefe kids have meat in their plate and she has none; she won’t understand why the Nabefe kids don’t run errands and she does nor why they go to school and she is home cleaning, cooking, scrubbing and wearing cast offs for clothes.
She had been set off by mama and papa to go be with the “nice” Nabefe daddy and mummy, who will be her new parents and send her to school.
I would imagine that Favour would have been glad to go live where food is promised, where school is promised, probably a bigger household from where she came from and so though she would miss her parents but with food in her stomach constantly and being able to go to school would’ve overridden any sense of painful separation from her parents and the rest of her siblings.
But reality hit when Ginika, aka new mummy began to make her work at home while her new siblings did nothing but watch tv and go to school. Reality hit when instead of going to school, she has to clean the house and remember all the errands she had been assigned to run when everyone leaves the house for school and work every day.
And Favour being the 9-year-old she is, will probably be prone to being forgetful, prone to daydreaming, playful or more likely to snooze off instead of doing her chores…the reason she was sent there in the first place.
Favour is a 9-year-old!
She will forget errands especially after not being given food for a prior offence;
She will steal food when she sees new mummy isn’t around and lie about it; it’s a no brainer, really.
Why do women do these?
Why do we brutalise children we often leave own children to care for?
Why do we treat these children as if they will never amount to anything and yet we go on our knees and ask God to bless our own children?
We think God is blind and deaf and easily deceived and can be manipulated?
Interestingly, Ginika is an Apostle’s wife. A Pastor maybe, (who knows what an apostle does, sef?)
Well at least, he’s someone who is religious enough to understand what being nasty to another’s child is according to the Holy Bible.
Ginika said of Favour, “She came into my house and messed it up and when I wanted to flog her, she ran into a store where we kept certain things, including pulpits and speakers. Maybe it was one of the speakers that fell on her head.”
Really! And gave her a huge gash?
Why not return a “stubborn child,” a child you have tried hard to train but remains un-trainable…back to her parents instead of inflicting injuries on her?
Reports quote Favour’s mother saying “My daughter said sometimes she would sleep in the passage without eating. But the one that pained me most was this recent one that she used a hot iron to beat my daughter in her head, pulling her hair and flesh off. (This couldn’t have been done by a pulpit or speakers falling on Favour’s head as Ginika claimed) My daughter said sometimes she used a knife to slice her body; my daughter’s body is full of injuries.”
Ginkia is a pastor’s wife!
Ginika has children too, probably of Favour’s age
Ginika should be arrested for brutality on a child!
To make matters worse, when Favour’s mother sought justice for her child, she is reported to have said the police requested the sum of N5,000 to register the case and N20,000 to travel to Port Harcourt to arrest Ginika Nabefe!
Well, thankfully, the Police in Awka have promised to get on this, let’s hope Favour’s case will find favour in their sight.