The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Abia State has rescued a 13-year-old Uduak Willy, a house help, who jumped down from a two-storey building to evade punishment for alleged pilfering.
The State Commandant of the corps, Mr Vincent Ogu, said this on Tuesday in his office in Umuahia, while briefing newsmen about the incident, which happened on January 8, at No. 204 Niger Stone on Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway (near Ariaria Market, Aba), where Willy lived with a businessman, Emeka Igwe and his wife, Aniekan.
Ogu said the girl took the desperate action after she was accused of stealing N500 from the house and allegedly subjected to serious beating by Igwe and his wife.
The commandant said that Igwe, along with his mother-in-law, 50-year-old Christiana Godwin, were “arrested for their alleged involvement in child-trafficking, child-labour, domestic violence and attempted murder.”
He said that the command was alerted about the ugly incident by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Teenage Matters, Mrs Chinemenma Umesaka.
He expressed satisfaction that Igwe was eventually lured out from his hiding and arrested by the Aba Divisional Officer, SP Uche Uduma, to face justice for his action.
Ogu said that the command later took the victim to the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, where she underwent a series of tests, including chest X-Ray, Abdomen Ultrasound and C.T Scan for the head, to ascertain if she suffered any internal injuries.
Narrating her ordeal to newsmen, the victim, who said that she came to live with Igwe’s family in November, denied stealing the money.
She also denied being pushed down by Igwe as alleged in the social media, saying that she took to her heels from the house and jumped down from the building to escape further beating.
Igwe and his wife confessed to beating her as a measure to make her admit stealing the money but denied pushing her down from the building.
He also denied going into hiding, saying that he took the girl to a clinic for treatment immediately after the incident.
The commandant, however, said the circumstances surrounding the process of her coming to Abia suggested “she might have been a victim of child trafficking.”
He added that the matter would be handed over to the appropriate agency for diligent prosecution at the end of the investigations, NAN reports.
