A 35-year-old father and divorcee has been sentenced to 24 hours community service by a family court sitting in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, for allegedly assaulting his six-year-old son over food.
Also, the court has directed that his son remains in the custody of the Osun State Government Children Home.
This was made known through a press release signed by Atanda Olabisi, Command Public Relations Officer, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in the state.
According to the press release, the Osun NSCDC Commandant, Emmanuel Ocheja stated that, “The six-year-old victim could not attend school owing to the inability of his father to pay his school fees.
“Emmanuel Ola prepared beans, served the little boy his own portion and kept the remaining for himself in order to fall back on it when he returned from work, but getting home, he discovered that his son had finished all the food.
“This act infuriated the man which made him to beat the boy mercilessly with a cable. The inhuman treatment led to various injuries on the boy’s body.
“A concerned neighbour raised alarm and contacted the Area Commander, Assistant Commandant of Corps (ACC) Oyetunji Olusegun to report the incident.
“The case was, subsequently transferred to the State Headquarters for further investigations and prosecution.”
The Osun NSCDC boss also disclosed that some members of Emmanuel’s community had revealed that the victim had been subjected to regular torture and abuse by his father.
“They pointed to the scars and wounds sustained by the boy as evidence of torture by the father.
“Under interrogation, Emmanuel said his son is greedy, picking up things that does not belong to him, hence his anger towards him to discourage his bad behaviour,” he said.
While commending the judgment, Commandant Ocheja stressed that any parent, guardian or whosoever that is found abusing a child would be made to face the consequences.
He urged the public not to relent in giving adequate and proactive information to the Corps for prompt response.
