A schoolteacher identified as Chioma Johnson has been arrested by officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, for allegedly brutalizing a 10-year-old boy over a pot of soup in Makurdi, Benue State.
Daily Report Nigeria gathered that the victim was brought from Johnson’s husband’s village to live with the couple at Zakibiam Street, Wadata area of Makurdi.
It was alleged that Johnson has been maltreating the victim for the past 3 years before she was finally arrested by NAPTIP.
Ukan Kurugh, a human rights activist said there were torture marks on different parts of the victim’s body.
He said, “She denied the boy education. While her four biological children attended school, this child was always locked up inside the house.
“She inflicted injuries on him; he looks malnourished as a result of not being fed most times. He has scars on his buttocks and head.
“She used a razor blade to scrape the boy’s head and poured hot nylon on him so that he would feel the pain more. She would sometimes heat her kitchen knife and used it to burn the skin of the boy.
“The last time neighbors tried to intervene, she refused to stop. She claimed the boy stole soup from her pot and she would punish him as much as she wanted. The child never left the house, whenever she and her children went out, they locked him up in the house; he would stay at the window and begged passersby for water and food.”
The NAPTIP Commandant for Benue State, Gloria Bai, who confirmed the incident, said the suspect had been granted administrative bail.
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