Everyone deserves to be loved

Last week, a story broke about how a woman beat a ten-year-old girl to the extent that she was badly bruised on her back. It was a disheartening sight for any human being to behold. The story was that the young girl was brought from Ebonyi State to Jos to stay with her uncle and his wife for educational support.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be as the uncle’s wife turned her to a maid without her being enrolled into any school. Neighbours however came to her rescue when they noticed that the girl was going through undue punishment and pain.

Womanhood seeks to find out why it’s difficult for many women to give total care to children who aren’t their biological children.

Anne Morgan, 40-year-old accountant, says, “I saw the pictures on social media and as a mother I was heartbroken. I have always been an advocate of ‘every woman with her child’. If I can’t send my children to school, I will rather home school them than send them to a relative who will make life a living hell for them. There is no one who can look after a child better than the mother. It does not mean we don’t have women with the heart of gold out there; we have many of them, but it takes the grace of God to find them.”

Olufunke Lawrence, 40-year-old teacher, says, “It baffles me to see that women, especially those who are mothers, tend to have wicked tendencies towards children who are not their own. As a mother who has gone through the pain of nurturing a pregnancy and going through the pains of labour, love is naturally what we have to give to every child. I can’t understand why some women can be heartless to others. Do they ever think about what will happen to their own children when they are no more?”

Binta Buba, 42-year-old business woman, says, “The world is daily becoming scarier by the minute. I’m sure she is a mother and also seeks for God’s blessings on a daily basis; tell me how God can answer such a person’s prayer. Do they ever think about the curses they are placing on their children by such acts of wickedness to other people’s children? If she knows she can’t take care of someone’s child, why allow her to be brought to you in the first place? By the way, where was the man when all this was happening? The husband and wife should be held accountable and jailed to serve as a detriment to others.”

Jamila Hamza, 38-year-old assistant lecturer, “A real man should always know what is happening in his house and curb the negative things happening to anyone in the house. If the man did not take note of what was going on with his niece, then he is not fit to be called a man. I say this because I know that some women are terrible and can pretend to like the girl when her husband is around but can also make life a living hell for the girl when he is out of sight. Also, I think its high time neighbours start to report such families to the authorities because most times neighbours tend to cover up such cases when they happen. These less privileged persons are also human.”