AFRICAN CHILD, THE ENDANGERED SPECIE- CASE STUDY ‘HOPE’

The story of African child is one that is full of pain, agony, rejection, enslavement, abandonment, denial of basic needs, stigmatization and penury the list goes. This piece will draw a case study centre piece on HOPE, the child that was abandoned in Akwa Ibom based on witchcraft stigmatization but was rescued by a humanitarian worker Anja Ringgren Loven.

The story of Hope is a story that resonates on the mind of many African children because more than half of African children go through one form of this dehumanization or the other. Some survive to tell the story while many are swallowed by these vices and trauma on their lives hence denied the opportunity to partake in the free life God has giving man.

HOPE was branded a wizard and stigmatized to the extent of being abandoned by his parents and everyone in the community regardless of his innocence on earth for superstitious beliefs of witchcraft. How can an innocent child that has not even known anything about life yet and depends solely on his parents whom God gave him to for tutelage, care and love until he grows to understand life in general be accused of witchcraft? Does this child even know what witchcraft is all about? The poor child was sent on earth to her parents by God how does he contribute or mastermind the misfortunes her family is facing? These are rhetorical questions only the ancestors and custodians of African history and traditions can answer someday. The child was stigmatized, abandoned on the streets to die slowly. No food, no water, no one to cater to him and no one was moved to pity to assist the child or at least put him in a home and be supplying him food in isolation if no one wishes to share the same home with him.

The most intriguing part of the story is the question of how this child was able to survive outside, with no food, no clothing, not even clean water etc alive for these period he was abandoned outside without dying. Only God has answer to this particular rhetorical question. And this is where the nucleus of the story will revolve because many African children go through one form of deprivation before making it to life eventually.

Many children from the day they were born in Africa, are exposed to  different difficulties to survive. Many are not guaranteed the basic three meals a day after they have passed the stage where their mothers breast will not sustain them again. They are forced to scavenge for food at refuse dumps and bushes just to survive. No good shelter to protect them from cold and other external forces. No clean water, no good clothing and other basic amenities they require to grow healthy so as to compete favorably among their grades across other continents. No assurance of basic quality education to equip them for the challenges that life will bring ahead as they grow to adulthood.

Recently, I read a story of another child, just 9-year old Chinwendu who was forced to be a house-help or maid at a tender age when she was supposed to be in school learning how to compete equitably with her peers. She was giving away to strangers she did not know much about by her parents for survival because they lacked what it takes to raise the child. The child was deprived of food which when served is not even enough to feed her, forced to hawk on the streets of Lagos that is very dangerous to adults let alone a poor child that was born in the village. Regardless of all these torture, her mistress went further to bathe this child with hot water that almost got her blind with her skin peeling off just for accusations of missing crayfish which the child did not know anything about. But as kind as destiny and providence could be, the child was rescued by Lagos State government that offered to adopt her and treat her in hospital. The story of Chinwendu is one out of many as millions of African children are enslaved in form of maids and house-helps by strangers that do not have feelings for them. They are abused physically, emotionally, sexually etc in the hands of those who are supposed to nurture, protect them and show them the way to life.

What of another story a teacher told me about another child who was constantly raped by the man who is supposed to show her way to life. She wakes up around 4am in the morning, to clean the house, makes break fast for the entire family and bathes the kids to prepare them for school. Her mistress drops the kids to school and drop her to her own school in her tattered school uniform and goes off to work. When the mistress has gone to work, the Master or the husband of the mistress will come and pick her from school around midday forcefully against her wishes as it is clear she knows the routine on the guise that she has some work to do for him at home to remove any suspicion and hesitation from her teachers. The poor child of just 13 years old is taking home and raped repeatedly by this man whom she calls father. And after that, she has to carry some items to go and hawk for her mistress only to come back later in the evening for another routine work. When she comes back, her mistress audits her transactions. If the sales are not well accounted for she will be denied food after being abused physically by her mistress. And after that, she will be forced to go straight to the kitchen, make food for the family, food she might not partake from if she happens not to account for her sales for the day or did not make enough sales as expected. After cooking, she bathes the kids and take them to bed, to wake up around 4am for another routine to repeat itself. The teachers say they are helpless for they do not have what it takes to take over this poor girl’s case, shelter her and feed her so they only empathize with her. It is obvious that this girl will get pregnant many times and her master who is responsible will endanger her life through repeated abortion in Africa that might destroy her womb due to quack processes by unqualified semi doctors who claim to be abortion specialist and perform it secretly since it is illegal in most African countries to abort a child. So the repercussions might be if that child survives all the abortions she will go through under the man, she might have issues with fertility due to damages done to her womb in the process.

The recent cases of many girls been abducted by Muslims has recently inundated Nigerian press with the case story of one Ese who was abducted from Bayelsa after being hypnotized by a man who is one of their customers and taken to far away Kano, a distance that takes almost the whole day by road without the knowledge of her parents. The girl was forced to renounce Christianity and accept Islam while she was raped repeatedly. After many months of her mother trying to rescue her without getting adequate support from the police and almost loosing her life in hands of her abductors while trying to rescue her daughter, the uproar from the press led to the police taking action and finally rescuing her after about 7months. She is presently pregnant while the case is still in court as the uproar forced the police to arrest and prosecute the abductor. There is also another story of Ifesinachi which the press is still tracking. Ifesinachi was hypnotized by her neighbor, abducted and taking to unknown place. All attempts to rescue the child remain abortive according to the mother as the police refused to assist her rather told her to inform them when the child is found. After the publicity, the police eventually arrested the abductor, who now claims that he sold the girl to one Emir. As at the time of going to press, Ifesinachi has not been rescued from her abductors who posted a picture of her wearing hijab indicating forced into Islam which is not her religion. Most of these girls when abducted, are drugged and hypnotized to submission so as to forget where they were abducted from and accept their fate their present home and religion.

While we were still grappling with that story, many other families whose children have been abducted in the same fashion and are helpless with the situation have been coming out seeking assistance. Blessing from Benue state Nigeria was one of such cases. Her brother sought help with the press for the little girl that was abducted for 8months and taking to Sokoto by her abductors. She said she was forced to drink something which she refused, they locked her up in a room and forced her to accept Islam. She said her abductor comes in the room to rape her when he likes without anyone to help the poor child. She was rescued recently by the police after Sokoto state government intervened and investigated the matter. She just reunited with her family last week and her brother was full of gratitude after the police released his sister.

The story of African child does not end there. Many African children have been swallowed by the ocean on their way to Europe through Libya. Most of them recount their story of how they were promised good jobs when they get to Europe by the traffickers. Many die due to the boat capsizing because of excess load in the ocean, while the few that make it alive are forced to take oath and used as prostitutes by traffickers. The swear oath to pay a certain amount of money that might take them five years to make through prostitution before they can regain their freedom. Some who try to resist are killed in the process and dumped somewhere while many remain in that house of slavery until they pay off the fee they agreed on oath to pay or they will die. Nigerian press is already running story of a girl whose friend got her parents in Nigeria pay for her freedom with N2M before she was allowed to go back to Nigeria from Libya. She said she and other girls, were promised very good job in US, an told to bring N500,000 to cover travel expenses and passport which they did. After, they were taking to somewhere in the North from where they were put on a bus across the desert. When they asked questions, they were told that they were being take to the next destination from where they will catch flight to US. At the end of the journey, they found themselves in Libya, locked up in a room and forced to take an oath and threatened to be killed if they attempt to escape.

The stories of many abandoned babies cannot be forgotten in Africa. These innocent babies are dumped in the bush, inside the toilet, inside well, at refuse dump, some buried alive etc by their mothers who are mostly teenagers that are not ready for motherhood after getting pregnant mistakenly for someone who is not ready to be a father either. Some of the lucky children get rescued alive, while many die in the process without even the honour of burial.

Many other African children are lured and raped by old men who force themselves into these little children below 15, causing the common VVF in little girls who face uncontrolled urinal discharges into the vagina that causes them to smell. Some of these children are eventually ostracized by the same men who inflicted these pain on them. Many of these men are never prosecuted because most areas where this happens, their religion condones it. Most of these girls end up dying because of lack of treatment, abandonment and stigmatization.

Many others who do not face physical abuse live in squalor with little or no food, no medical attention, no good water et al as they struggle to fight deprivation from the world that has enough to cater for them but segregated on them because of their heritage or background.

The story goes on about the travails of African child. While many make it after all the odds like HOPE. Many others do no make it to tell the story. Some others, the scars of their childhood hunt them for life and make it difficult for them to enjoy the rest of their life here on earth. Very few who after all the odds, survive and easily get rehabilitated and reintegrated into the society one way or the other without the past pain and fear hunting them for life are indeed the heroes of our time. They surmount the odds  through destiny and rewrite the story of their lives to a story of hope, encouragement et al and become role models to many.   These victims are indeed the heroes of our time.

  
#JesusIsTheGreatest