A father is currently on the run after he allegedly beat his 2-month-old son with hanger in Imo, for disturbing his sleep, leading to the amputation of the baby’s arm.
The Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) and The National Human Right Commission (NHRC), Imo State chapter have called on the Imo State Government and the Nigeria Police Force to immediately arrest and prosecute the baby’s father already identified as Mr Confidence Amatobi.
Mr Amatobi was said to have assaulted his baby, named Miracle, with a plastic hanger and broke the baby’s arm for disturbing his sleep. The shocking incident led to the amputation of the fractured arm at the Pediatrics ward of the Federal Medical Centre, FMC Owerri.
Imo State Chairperson of NAWOJ, Dr Dorothy Nnaji who spoke to the press after visiting the amputated boy at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri, confirmed that the injury inflicted by the 31-year-old father, a native of Amurie in lsu LGA of the state, led to the amputation of the little boy’s right hand.
Mrs Nnaji who frowned at the dastardly cruel act of Mr Amatobi expressed shock that a father could assault his innocent child simply because he was crying and disturbing his sleep. She disclosed that Mr Amatobi was reported to have repeatedly hit the baby with a plastic hanger to stop him from crying until the right hand broke.
“The perpetrator, Mr. Confidence Amatobi, who hails from Amurie in Isu L.G.A used plastic hanger on the baby, simply because he was crying that the 20-year-old mother left to ease herself. He used wood and elastic bands to tie the baby’s hand when he saw that hand was broken and swollen,” Mrs Nnaji
said.
“He locked the mother and baby to prevent her from talking to neighbours or seeking help. He also took her phone from her. After two days she found her way out and sought help from her neighbours. The guy was arrested by a vigilante but he escaped. By the time help came, the baby’s hand was already decayed. The only option was to cut off baby Miracle’s right hand from shoulder.”
Narrating her ordeal, the mother of Miracle, Mrs Favour Chikwe, 20, 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.
“Upon noticing that he has broken the baby’s hand, he used sticks and rubber bands to bind the broken bones together,” she said.
On her part, the Imo State Coordinator NHRC, Mrs Ukachi Ukah while reacting to the incident unequivocally condemned the brutality Mr Amatobi displayed on the little boy over no known offence of the infant and insisted that justice must be allowed to take its course.
Where’s the beast? He needs to be dealt with