The Lagos State government says it will prosecute a 70-year old woman who allegedly smeared pepper in the penis of a 12-year-old boy who was accused of stealing of money.
The government also vowed to prosecute another woman who specialised in alms begging with two children she reportedly brought from her village.
All three children were brought to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation after they were rescued in Badagry, Ajamgbadi and Maza Maza areas of the state by government officials and the police.
Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Omobolanle Ogunmola, confirmed both developments, saying the ministry got the information of the abuse in a text message. She also disclosed that beatings by the old woman left the boy with many marks on his body.
“Our team went to Badagry to rescue the boy who attends Ansar-Ud-Deen Secondary School. The woman is around 70 years while the husband is over 75, so we could not arrest them, but that does not mean we are not going to prosecute them. We will take custody of the boy and take him to school in one of our transient homes,” she said.
Ogunmola said the state government had declared zero tolerance for child abuse and domestic violence, saying that government would not hesitate to prosecute anyone found to have violated the rights of children in the state.
Ogunmola said the government was also going to prosecute the beggar for engaging the two children in begging, while advising parents to live up to their responsibilities by not releasing their children to live with others without proper investigation.
She said the government had many cases of child abuse being prosecuted at various family courts in the state, with many culprits, according to her, jailed.