A couple in Anambra State, South-east Nigeria allegedly tried to starve their five-year-old daughter to death after labelling her a witch.
The couple, Michael Wosu, 47, and Blessing, his 23-year-old wife, allegedly carried out the act in Adazi-Ani, a community in Anaocha Local Government Area of the state, where they reside.
Disclosing this in a statement on Thursday, September 7, Chidinma Ikeanyionwu, a media aide to the Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare in the state, Ify Obinabo said the couple had been arrested by the commissioner.
The media aide noted the arrest followed a report to the commissioner from the Chairperson of the council area, Ikechukwu Ozoh, and Chinwe Uba, the State Coordinator of a group, Ladies of Good Governance.
Mrs Obinabo, while speaking to the couple in her office, said her primary assignment was to protect the rights of every child in Anambra State, Ms Ikeanyionwu said.
The commissioner applauded a resident, Ikenna Anoliefo, for rescuing the child and drawing the attention of authorities from the council area.
She vowed to prosecute the couple and others who commit such acts in the state.
The couple, according to the statement, released by the commissioner that they were starving their daughter in obedience to their unnamed pastor’s prophecy that the girl was a witch.
They said they felt that there was no need to give the daughter food because, as a witch, she does not deserve to live.
The mother Blessing, who hails from Akwa Ibom State, South-south Nigeria, claimed that the daughter, through “her witchcraft”, was responsible for the collapse of her father’s business, Adding that she equally forced the daughter to be sleeping on a plank because she frequently urinated and defecated on their bed.
The father, Mr Wosu, who comes from Rivers State, another state in the South-south, claimed he was not aware that his wife was maltreating the daughter.
The child, the statement said, has been taken to a hospital for medical treatment.
