a couple in anambra stateSoutheast Nigeria allegedly tried to starve her five-year-old daughter after labeling her a witch.
The couple, Michael Wosu, 47, and Blessing, his wife of 23, allegedly carried out the act in Adazi-Ani, a community in the Anaocha local government area of the state, where they reside.
Chidinma Ikeanyionwu, a press assistant to the state Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, revealed this in a statement on Thursday.
Ikeanyionwu said the couple had been arrested by the commissioner.
The media aide said the arrest followed a report to the commissioner of the council area chairman, Ikechukwu Ozoh, and Chinwe Uba, state coordinator of a group, Ladies of Good Governance.
Obinabo, while speaking to the couple in his office, said his main task was to protect the rights of all children in Anambra State, Ikeanyionwu said.
The commissioner thanked a neighbor, Ikenna Anoliefo, for rescuing the child and drawing the attention of the council authorities.
He vowed to prosecute the couple and others who commit such acts in the state.
‘He deserves to die’
The couple, according to the statement, told the commissioner that they were starving their daughter to death in obedience to her anonymous pastor’s prophecy that the girl was a witch.
They said they felt there was no need to give the daughter food because as a witch she doesn’t deserve to live.
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Mother Blessing, who hails from Akwa Ibom StateSouth-South Nigeria, claimed the daughter, through “her witchcraft”, was responsible for the collapse of her father’s business.
She added that she also forced her daughter to sleep on a board because she frequently urinated and defecated on her bed.
The father, Mr. Wosu, who comes from state of the riversanother South-South state, claimed not to know that his wife was abusing their daughter.
The boy, according to the statement, has been taken to a hospital for medical treatment.