By Martha Agas
Jos – The Christian Women for Excellence and Empowerment in Nigeria (CWEEN), an NGO, has given temporary shelter to two children said to be victims of persistent torture by their father, Christopher Sule.
Mrs. Comfort Zawaya, CWEEN Coordinator, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Jos on Tuesday that the children, aged eight and six years, had endured maltreatment by their 43-year-old father “for more than three years”.
“We have relocated the children from their Jos South residence to a more peaceful and friendly abode,” she said.
She said that the NGO was called in to give shelter to the children pending the outcome of police investigation into the matter.
“They (children) look very pathetic; they have scars on their faces, hands, legs and back.
Zawaya said that the father had owned up to the scars but claimed that he was training them to be well behaved.
She promised that the NGO would continue to counsel family members, especially victims of such traumatic experiences, and provide them with both psychological succour and social support.
According to her, Mrs. Rebecca Dakwo, the head teacher of Kingdom Academy, the children’s school, raised the alarm, when she observed the manner the children walked and related in school.
She quoted Dakwo as saying that the children moved like they had pampers on them, forcing her to call the attention of their mother, who is a teacher in the school.
“The head teacher threatened to take the children to a social welfare office, if the situation persisted.
“Last week, she saw new scars on their faces and quickly reported the case to the social welfare office in Jos South Local Government, who sought our intervention,” she said.
NAN reports that the father is being held at the Division B Police Station in Bukuru, Jos South, but has yet to be arraigned in court.