A man, Confidence Amatobi, and a native of Amurie in Isu LGA in Imo has allegedly broken his two-month-old baby’s arm for “disturbing his sleep.”
This was noted in a joint press statement by the Imo State Chapter of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), and the National Human Right Commission (NHRC).
NAWOJ, NHRC and the aggrieved mother of the baby, Miracle, have called on the State Government and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to immediately arrest and prosecute the suspect.
The alleged assault on the little baby by the 31-year-old father led to the amputation of the boy’s fractured right arm at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri.
The Imo State Chairperson of NAWOJ, Dr Dorothy Nnaji, described it as dastardly cruel that a father could assault his innocent child simply because he was crying and disturbing his sleep.
She disclosed that Amatobi was reported to have repeatedly hit the baby with a plastic object to stop him from crying until the right hand broke.
Describing the attack on the little boy as the height of child abuse, the chairperson demanded justice for the baby since he could not speak for himself.
The Imo State Coordinator NHRC, Mrs Ukachi Ukah, on her part condemned the brutality and insisted that justice must be allowed to take its course.
Narrating her ordeal, the mother of Miracle, Mrs Favour Chikwe who hails from Idemili Community, Anambra State disclosed that she had left Miracle with his father on Friday, October 7, 2022, to use the convenience, when the incident happened.
Favour recalled that she overheard her baby crying uncontrollably and had to rush back to know the cause of her cry only for her to discover that his right hand was swollen and bone broken from the beating he received from his father.
Amatobi, it was learnt, confessed that the baby was disturbing him with his cry while he was sleeping and he had to try to stop him by battering him.
He said: “Upon noticing that he has broken the baby’s hand, he used sticks and rubber bands to bind the broken bones together.”
She said: “When l confronted him about what he did, he locked us in the room, to prevent me from telling people about his wicked deed or seek for help. He also collected my phone from me so that I will not call the neighbours.”
She narrated how she managed to take the baby to hospitals in the community that refused to treat the baby before she took him to FMC Owerri where the amputation was done.
The woman appealed for support to save her child while calling on the state government, NHRC and other civil society organisations to assist her to get justice for her son.
