A woman in Kano has been arrested for confining her 12-year-old son and starving him for several years.
Maryam Dauda was arrested by police in Kano, who say she confined the boy in a room in the family’s rented apartment in Unguwar Liman Dorayi, Gwale Local Government Area of the state without proper feeding and health care.
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Spokesperson of Kano State Police Command, DSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa confirmed that the woman is still in their custody and she will be arraigned as soon as the investigation is concluded.
He added that the victim was rescued and rushed to Murtala Muhammad Hospital for medical attention.
Maryam’s act was exposed by one Ibrahim Danladi Satatima who was at the house to assess before purchasing it.
Satatima told Daily Trust that he met the boy inside the room, where he was chained and eating his own faeces.
“As I entered the house alongside the landlord, I saw a boy chained inside a room eating his faeces,” he said.
He added that he later sought assistance from the neighbours to rescue the boy but they did not cooperate with him.
“So I went to see the ward head but I could not see him as he was not around at that moment. We waited for an hour or so but he did not appear. I called him on phone but his line did not go through, So I decided to report the case to Dorayi police station and they promptly responded”, he added.
Meanwhile, the accused person has blamed her act on poverty, saying since she gave birth to the boy and others, she had received no help from anyone.
She added that the boy had been suffering from a mental illness throughout his life.
“He is not the only one even his two brothers suffered from the same illness before they passed away,” she said.
