If the story sounds extremely bizarre and distressing, it is precisely because certain sections of the Nigerian society have opted to remain stuck in the practices of a bygone age, firmly resisting change. And the government must compel change, or risk further losses of life in the most brutal of circumstances. This is the verdict that must emerge from a careful consideration of the tragedy that unfolded in Adamawa State recently. Clinging to unfounded allegations, a couple allegedly tortured their daughter to death in Adamawa State. The couple, Yakubu Isa Arisko, 36, and Veronica Linus, 34, reportedly conspired and murdered their daughter, Eunice Yakubu, whom they had accused of practising witchcraft. They reportedly tied the nine-year-old with a rope and left her in the sun after accusing her of bewitching her stepmother, Veronica Linus. Apart from tying up the minor, her stepmother, who is four months pregnant, also reportedly poured hot water on the victim, leading to her death.

According to the spokesperson for the Adamawa State Police Command, SP Suleiman Nguroje, the incident happened on April 13 at Gidan Madara in the Mubi South Local Government Area of the state. Hear him: “The man had divorced the deceased person’s mother over the same witchcraft allegation after bearing four children for him. He married his present wife, Veronica. The two now accused the deceased of being a witch like her mother. They tortured the kid to death and were apprehended. They will be arraigned in court for the alleged offences of criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide contrary to sections 60 and 192 of the penal code of Adamawa State.”

This incident is, to say the very least, unfortunate. As we speak, a young innocent girl lies in her early grave, forever silenced through illegal mythology. Apart from the alleged guilt on witchcraft accusations not having been established, the victim also suffered grievously from the resort to self-help by her own guardians, including her father and stepmother. They charged her with witchcraft in their self-constituted court, pronounced her guilty, and proceeded to execute their verdict of death in the most dastardly manner. Pray, now that they have shed the innocent young girl’s blood, are the myth-blinded parents now free from the spiritual challenges that caused them to dub her a witch? Are they not up against the Nigerian State now, charged with murder? And how precisely are they going to justify their extremely callous act of depriving a young girl of her life for the flimsiest of reasons? Indeed, under which circumstances would it have been okay to execute a nine-year-old for any offence?

When the fact is considered that many married couples across the length and breadth of the land are still looking up to God for the fruit of the womb, this case becomes extremely poignant in the utter ruination that it represents. Just how can parents knowingly take the life of their own child? Where is parental love, that deep love that even causes parents to insist that they would rather die than allow any evil to come upon their offspring? Of course, this case also throws up the discomfiting story of children in broken homes who literally pass through hell at the hands of their stepmothers. In a litany of cases, stepmothers have been known to pamper their own children while treating their step-children worse than slaves. It is a practice rooted in emotional and psychological dysfunction because no one who truly appreciates and values human life will treat any child horribly. In the instant case, the story becomes more distressing when the fact is considered that the man at the centre of this story not only broke up his own home by falsely accusing the woman who bore him four children of being a witch and conducting another marriage to a mean individual but also shed the blood of his own daughter based on the same mythology that may well earn him and his accomplice the death sentence.

If, for any reason, the lives of innocent children were callously wasted in the bygone ages, what justification is there for such practices in this day and age? What would this society gain from holding on to a bygone age with all its pernicious practices? Is it that the society, or, more specifically, certain sections of it, cannot free itself from its past? Well, superstition will not provide an escape route for anyone credibly accused of murder. Assuming but not conceding that the said child was indeed a witch, there is no section of Nigerian law that permits anyone to take her life. This case presents an extreme example of parental betrayal and wickedness and must be prosecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law. Meanwhile, governments at all levels must heighten their advocacy against harmful cultural practices, including those that violate the rights of children. Nigeria has a Child Rights Act that is binding on all Nigerians. Its provisions must be enforced to the letter.

We commiserate with Eunice Yakubu’s mother who not only lost her marriage to baseless accusations but has now also lost her daughter in the most painful of circumstances. We wish her and members of her family the fortitude to overcome this hour of trial.

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