Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
Kebbi State government has pledged to treat and rehabilitate Jibril Aliyu, the teenage boy chained for two years by his father and foster mothers in Badariya area of Birnin Kebbi.
Special Adviser to Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu on Women and Social Development, Hajiya Zara’u Wali stated this after visiting the boy at Sir Yahaya Memorial Hospital, Birnin Kebbi. Wali expressed shock over the decision to chain the boy alongside livestock while starving him for two years. The victim, it was gathered was also forced to eat animal fodder, with no water, and in some instances he ate his own faeces.
“Evaluation will be done by the doctors and any kind of problems diagnosed will be fully taken care of by the State government,” said Wali.
“Really what happened was a touching situation that has deeply touched Governor Atiku Bagudu, so much. We just heard about the boy who had been chained by his father and foster mothers, living a barbaric life. Bagudu will never allow such an angry scenario to reoccur again in Kebbi State, despite all the encouragement that the state government has been giving our people in a state like this.The government is really touched and we will go to any length to ensure the logical prosecution of the suspects,” she added.
Zara’u admonished the people of the state to promptly report such incidents either to the ministry or through any of the local governments across the state .
She appealed to the Kebbi State House of Assembly to pass the law for the protection of the child so that culprits would be dealt with within the ambits of the law to serve as deterrent to others.