The Federal government has placed a N2 million bounty on an Anambra-based lawyer, Adachukwu Cukelu-Okafor, who has been declared wanted for allegedly abusing an 11-year-old housemaid, Happiness.
Mrs Cukelu-Okafor, who is on the run, is alleged to have used a broken bottle, knife and an electric iron to brutalise the child said to be her niece. A video of the little girl receiving medical attention at a hospital had recently gone viral.
The incident reportedly happened in Akpaka, Onitsha in Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State, after Mrs Cukelu-Okafor, reportedly accused Happiness of touching her daughter.
Recall that the Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, had a few days ago said his administration had begun the prosecution of Ms Cukelu-Okafor over the abuse of her 11-year-old housemaid.
In a post on his official Facebook page, Governor Soludo said the abuse of minors and vulnerable persons was not tolerated in the state, disclosing that a team from the state Ministry for Women and Social Welfare received a report on the incident on Wednesday, 31 January.
“Mrs Adachukwu Cukelu-Okafor, who visibly violated the young girl left in her custody, is one out of many who do not deserve a place amongst decent humanity. We have commenced actions to ensure she is brought to Justice. This should serve as a firm warning to all abusers of any kind, that Anambra State is not a place where their excesses will be condoned,” the governor had stated in the post.
Happiness alleged that Mrs Cukelu-Okafor used a broken bottle, pressing iron, and knife on her in just two weeks of her stay with her.
In the viral video, Happiness was seen with iron-stamp burns on parts of her body, allegedly inflicted by her guardian, whom she reportedly began living with on 5 January.
However, addressing journalists yesterday in Abuja, Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, urged Nigerians to be on the lookout for Mrs Cukelu-Okafor, provide information that could lead to her arrest and to call any police station once she is sighted.
“The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development is offering N2 million to anybody that will lay hands on this woman and hand her over to the police. We need this woman urgently because the girl is in pain and has been in the hospital. It could be your child or anybody’s relation, so let us not fold our hands.
“We will give N2 million to anybody that will give necessary information to the police or the women affairs ministry on how to get Adachukwu, the lawyer who did all those harmful things to her housemaid,” she said.
The minister stressed that every Nigerian child deserved to grow up in a safe environment. According to her, the issue of Mrs Cukelu-Okafor is of grave concern to the federal government.
“I kept quiet initially because I thought that by now, it would have been solved by the state government since they are aware of it. But since it has not been resolved, I have decided to wade in. It is within my purview to get involved in anything that involves women and children across Nigeria,” she added.
Mrs Kennedy-Ohanenye also disclosed that the government will soon make a pronouncement on the issue of taking in housemaids that are less than 18 years old, in a bid to put a stop to cases of child abuse and violation.
The minister said there will be an enforcement programme to that end, to be driven by the federal ministry of justice.
“We are going to put a stop to it; there will be a pronouncement within a week and an enforcement programme towards that action. And we will need whistleblowers, who are Nigerians, to come out and fight for your country, by giving information on anything that you feel will help this country,” she said.
Premium Times