Anambra Govt Rescues 5 Children Eating Raw Rice to Survive, Arrests Father, Stepmom for Maltreatment
By Izunna Okafor
Anambra State Government, through the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, has arrested a man, Mr. Uche Mbonu and his wife over the malnourishment and maltreatment of the children belonging to his first wife whom he has divorced.
The incident happened in Osumenyi, Nnewi South Local Government Area of the State, where the state government also rescued the five malnourished children.
Testifying before the State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs Ify Obinabo; a source from the community revealed that Mr. Mbonu divorced his first wife some years ago and married the second one, who used to be his salesgirl.
It was also gathered that he refused to allow his first wife to go with her children when he divorced her (except the youngest one); while since then, he and his second wife have allegedly continued to maltreat and malnourish the children she left behind, to the point that the younger ones among them (ranging between 5 to 10 years) resorted to eating raw rice to survive.
According to the source, the child eat only once a day, which comes around 3.pm or thereabouts, while they do not also go to school, but locked up inside the room everyday whenever their dad and stepmother went out.
It was further alleged that Mr. Mbonu, who owns a booming block industry, exploits the eldest among the children as an enslaved bricklayer in his block industry, and compels him to mould no fewer than five bags of cement everyday (on empty stomach), after which he would not pay him from year to year, but would only give him 500 naira in the afternoon to buy snacks and soft drinks which would also be his only meal for the day.
When interrogated, the suspect, Mr. Mbonu, said he usually bought blood tonics for the children; while, on her own part, the second wife (who is breastfeeding a baby) claimed that she only starves those children whenever they eat raw rice, so that the raw rice they ate would serve as meal for them.
In her reaction after hearing from the parties, the Women Affairs Commissioner, Mrs. Obinabo who expressed displeasure with the entire story and the physical appearances of the malnourished children, ordered the immediate hand-over of the suspects to police for further investigation and swift prosecution.
She assured that the suspects would be charged to court as soon as possible, and also warned men against depriving their divorced wives access and custody of their children, especially underaged children.
