NHRC probes Kano toddler’s torture

The National Human Rights Commission said on Thursday that it had ordered a preliminary investigation into the alleged torture of a 20-month-old baby, Musa Murtala, in Kano State.

A statement by the commission’s Chief Press Officer, Mrs. Fatimah Mohammed, said the disturbing picture of the baby’s condition appeared in a newspaper on Wednesday.

She said the baby’s mother, Bilkisu, “disclosed that her baby was brought to the hospital, following multiple fractures on his arms and legs, a cut on the tongue and testes as well as an injury to his right eye.”Mohammed said the baby was lying critically ill at the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital in Kano State.

She disclosed that the Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Prof. Bem Angwe, had ordered a preliminary investigation into the incident.

The statement said the intervention by the Kano State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abbati Dikko, led to the arrest of the suspects who were said to have been handed over to the State Criminal Investigation Department in the state.

The statement by the NHRC spokesperson did not disclose the number of the suspects, the nature of the torture meted out to the baby and the motive behind the act.

But the NHRC spokesperson said the directive of the commission to investigate the elements of right violations in the case was made on the strength of the Standing Order and Rules of Procedures of the commission.

The statement read in part, “The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Prof. Bem Angwe, stated this in Abuja while reacting to the gruesome picture of the baby on the front page of a national newspaper.

“He (Angwe) disclosed that the commission had received preliminary reports on the incident from its zonal office in Kano, stressing that he would ensure that all those involved in the dastardly act would be made to face the wrath of the law.

“He said a preliminary investigation conducted by the officials of the commission indicated that the alleged violators were now being detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Bompai.

Angwe said, “No cause justifies human rights abuse,” adding that the section 34(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, states that “no person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman and degrading treatment.”

Meanwhile, the executive secretary has commended the Kano State Police Commissioner for his quick intervention leading to the arrest of the suspects.

Angwe also urged Nigerians to desist from hiring underaged children for house chores or menial work.