It is quite possible that very soon in Nigeria, no person below the 18-year-old threshold will ever find themselves in a position where they would be a household help no matter their circumstance; a recent child abuse experience of an Anambra State pre-teen, Happiness Nwafor whose genitals were mutilated by her host is what might bring this about.

Although she was supposed to be under a lawyer,  wing, the 11-year-old reportedly had a hot knife stuck into her body by the guardian and she also had pressing iron burns showing on her skin which have gotten her hospitalised.

Having not witnessed a concrete response from the state government in Anambra, Women Affairs Minister Mrs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye has thought up actions that can be taken. That would involve, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) decisions in a few days that would probably see a pronouncement from this ministry on taking house [help] that are less than 18 years.

We are going to put a stop to it. There will be a pronouncement within a week and an endorsement programme towards that action.

And we will need the whistle-blowers, who are Nigerians, to come and fight for your country, especially now. Come out and give information of anything that you feel will help this country.

Beyond such a move is the ₦2million bounty that the federal government, through Mrs Kennedy-Ohanenye’s ministry, has placed on the lawyer who isn’t within the sights of the authority.

The minister wants every Nigerian to provide information that aids the search for the culprit so as to get an amount of justice for a victim who is going through hospital care and recovering in agony.

Please Nigerians go out there [and] search for this woman, bring her out, call any Police station and hand her over.

The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs is offering ₦2 million to anybody [who] 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 ₦2 million to anybody [who] will give necessary information to the police or the women’s affairs ministry on how to get Adachukwu, the barrister, who did all those harmful things to her house help.

This woman will be apprehended by the police who have been looking for her and she is nowhere to be found.

Attention on the alleged fugitive started to brew when footage that has now gone viral showed the victim in a pitiful state that was prompted by her abuse. Reports confirm that the 11-year-old was returned to her aunt with her private part chopped in pieces: the aunt is alleged to have been the initial custodian of the child.

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For the minister, her involvement when it seemed like others were sleeping, was playing a constitutionally guaranteed role of a federal cabinet member with jurisdiction that cover the entire Nigerian space.

This issue of Adachukwuchu who burnt her 11-year-old house girl with [a] hot knife, putting it in her private part and at the same time using hot pressing iron to do other damages on her 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 since they are aware of it. For the fact that it still hasn’t been solved, I have decided to wade in.

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.