Charity Iyonetu, a middle-aged woman, has been arrested for torturing and dehumanizing an eight-year-old boy, while accusing him of being a wizard.
The suspect was arrested at the Seme border area of Badagry after she allegedly tied the victim’s hands with a rope and locked him up in a one-room apartment.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, who confirmed the arrest at a press conference in Ikeja, said that the woman had been brutalising the boy until May 9, 2018 when she was arrested.
Edgal, who described the act as “man’s inhumanity to man”, said that the suspect inflicted grievous bodily injuries on the little boy.
“The complainant (Chinonye) alleged that the suspect is the elder sister to his father. He said that sometime in 2016, the suspect came to their village, Agbaai, Nkota LGA of Imo State, and brought him to Lagos after his mother had abandoned him and left for an unknown place.
“He stated that the suspect was always maltreating him and accusing him of being a wizard.
The ordeal of the little boy came to the fore when on May 9, 2018, at about 9:00a.m., the suspect used a horse whip to flog the child, inflicting injuries all over his body.
“She thereafter locked him in her one-room apartment with his two hands tied behind his back and left for her shop.
The survivor was crying and shouting for help, which made one Peter Aluku call the police. When the police team arrived, they broke the door of the house and rescued the child,” he said.
Edgal added that the suspect would be charged to the Special and Sexual Offences Court as soon as investigation was concluded.
