From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
The Imo State police command has arrested one Mr Chimezie Nwosu and his wife, Victoria for maltreating their 7-year-old son, Kelechi Nwosu, whose leg was chained and locked with a big padlock to prevent him from moving around.
Spokesperson of the State police, Michael Abattam said men of the command had acted on the report of a good Samaritan of the maltreatment of Kelechi and his other elder brother, Destiny, 11, and Chinemerie, 9, by their stepmother, Victoria, residing at World Bank, Owerri.
A viral video from social media had earlier captured the children being punished by their stepmother while their father showed no concern for their plight at the weekend.
The voice on the video also claimed that the children’s stepmother responsible for chaining Chimezie has been starving them and making them wash clothes while her own children go to school.
This Abattam noted prompted “The Divison Police Officer (DPO) in charge of New Owerri Divisional Police Headquarters Owerri, to swiftly mobilise a team of policemen including the Officer In Charge of Juvenile Welfare Center (JWC ) to the scene at World Bank area where the parents were arrested.
He continued: “On arrival, the police operatives went into the Chinemerie Nwosu age 9 years all looking unkept and malnourished,” Abattam said.
The children, according to the state police spokesperson, have been taken to a nearby government hospital where they were treated and later discharged before they were remanded in an orphanage home.
Meanwhile, the two suspects are presently in police custody undergoing interrogation and later to be charged in court as soon as the investigation is concluded.