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| Shuaibu and Sophia |
Though the private hospital where eight-year-old house help, Sophia Shaidu, was admitted had said she would require extensive skin grafting to heal her disfigured buttocks, three weeks after her stay in hospital, the abused girl has been discharged to her guardian, Bashir Shuaibu, – the same man who allegedly beat her till her buttocks became damaged.
Doctors at the hospital had expressed concern that the guardian might not be able to foot the bill of the extensive treatment that Sophia needed to recover from the injury that made her buttocks rotten.
But on Monday, it was learnt that the little girl had been released from the hospital to her guardian, Shuaibu, whom she said spanked her many times till she developed the injury.
The hospital authorities were tight-lipped over why the little girl had to be released in spite of the fact that she was not yet healed.
A doctor had said during a visit to the hospital when Sophia was still on admission there that it would take a while before the grafting surgery could be done.
Our correspondent contacted an official of the hospital on the circumstances surrounding the girl’s discharge.
The official said, “I cannot tell you where the girl has been taken to or who she was handed over to when she was discharged. All I can tell you is that she has been discharged.
“You know she cannot be discharged against doctor’s advice. But the man (Shuaibu) did not default in paying the girl’s hospital bills before she was discharged.”
Meanwhile, the Zonal Commander of the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters, Mr. Joseph Famakin, has said that his agency is investigating the case of the girl.
He said in an electronic mail, “Please, be informed that the NAPTIP is looking into the case and will take appropriate actions in that regard. We thank you for cooperation in the fight against human trafficking/child labour in Nigeria.”
When Famakin was informed on Tuesday that the girl had been discharged, he said he would get in touch with the hospital and contact the Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation on the issue.
He said, “The problem is that our hands are usually tied when any issue that is not really about child labour – one that involves the use of a child in one’s home while paying someone else for such services.
“What we do in this kind of case that involves the relations of a child is that we work with the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation under whose purview that sort of cases fall. But we still collaborate to help the ministry in any way we can.”
However, the Director of Child Services in the Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Dada Fadairo, on Thursday, dismissed insinuations that the ministry had abandoned the girl’s case.
Fadairo explained that in any case of abuse, the interest of the victim is paramount.
She said, “The girl was discharged but regular visits to the hospital for treatment continues.
“We don’t just take any decision that involves a child lightly. We work for the best interest of the child. Even if the man has to be prosecuted later, we have to ensure that the child is treated and healed.
“How can anybody say we did not visit the hospital when our officials were the ones who took the man from the hospital, brought him to my office before we handed him over to the task force?
“The task force has been working with us diligently for a long time and has been doing well. We are aware that investigation is ongoing in the case. If the investigation results in a court case, the best interest of the child would be considered in the court.”
Fadairo said the father of the child had even approached her pleading to take the child away but he had been denied that because the ministry had to ensure the child was healed and counselled.
Asked if the child would be kept in a government home when she is healed, Fadairo said that would be determined by the outcome of investigation.
The ministry’s regulation suggests that a child who is a victim of abuse is not supposed to be released to an individual accused of the crime.
When the ministry was first informed about the girl’s case, officials had stated that the government would take temporary custody of the girl after treatment.
However, three weeks after the case was reported to the police at the Lagos State Task Force, there was no sign that Shuaibu would be prosecuted.
The Chairman of the Task Force, Mr. Bayo Suleiman, told our correspondent over the phone that the girl was released in the presence of her (Sophia’s) father, Shuaibu’s father and the accused.
He said, “I told you that she is not a house help. They are all relations. Your last report said that she needed skin grafting but would she be released now if she actually needed that?
“She is getting better; that’s why she was discharged. You said the doctor was the one who told you that she would need skin grafting. Can you challenge the doctor now to state again that she would need skin grafting now that she is getting better? I am not a doctor but we should report things the way it is.
“This kind of information is making it look much more than the issue is, to the extent that someone had said he would raise money to help the girl.”
Saturday PUNCH had last week reported about a philanthropist who offered to pay for the girl’s treatment and donate money that the mother could use for petty trading so that she could take back her child.
Our correspondent tried to call Shuaibu to ask about the girl’s whereabouts but he disconnected calls to his phone line.
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