by Dayo Johnson, Akure
Is it the biting economic recession that has hit many homes or sheer wickedness that would make a father to burn the stomachs of his two children with red hot knife in Owo, Ondo State capital over the allegation that they stole?
Alhaji Kasali Mumuni, 41, is the father of Maryam, 9, and Ojonla, 6.
He has been married thrice but report had it that none of his wives stayed with him for more than three years before they were sent packing with their children.
Sunday Vanguard gathered that Kasali left home that fateful day for work only to return to discover that the only fish in the pot had been eaten without consideration for the bread winner of the house.
It was learnt that one of the children took half of the fish in the pot and, when their step- mother returned from where she sells herbs in one of the motor parks in Owo, she ate the remaining half.
Meanwhile, when the father of the house came much later and his food was served without fish, hell was let loose.
The step-mother, who allegedly was not comfortable with the continued stay of the two children in the house, was said to have heaped the blame on the kids, accusing them before their father that they stole the only fish reserved for him.
Kasali’s third wife, who, it was learnt, is yet to have a child for him, had allegedly been asking the husband to allow the two children to go and stay with their mother because their presence in the house was making her uncomfortable.
Narrating what she and her sibling went through to Sunday Vanguard, Maryam said it was actually true that Ojonla ate half of the piece of fish in the pot and that when their step-mother returned from her shop, she ate the other half.
According to her, when their father returned and was served rice without fish, he flared up and their step-mother told him that the two of them went into the pot behind her to steal the fish reserved for his dinner while she was away from the house.
Angered by what he was told, Maryam said that their father beat them mercilessly and later went into the kitchen to light the stove and put a knife on it. “When the knife was hot and turned red, he pressed it on our stomachs one after the other.
We cried and begged but our father refused to remove the knife, ”the girl said.“ Our neighbors, who heard our cries, rushed to the scene only to be told by our father that they should mind their businesses.
“ He held us down for several minutes as the knife was pressed on our stomachs”. She stated that the neighbors later informed officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) who rushed to the scene and rescued them.
“ We were taken to the State Hospital, Akure by the officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps who later reported informed the Welfare Department of the state Ministry of Women Affairs”.
The mother of the two children, who relocated to Ila Orangun, Osun State after his divorce from the suspect, is back in Akure to take care of the kids after the torture, allegedly by their father.
Sunday Vanguard was informed that Kasali is in detention in Owo and would soon be transferred to the state police command headquarters in Akure for further interrogation and prosecution.
An official of the NSCDC confirmed that the suspect was arrested for allegedly inflicting injuries on his children. Speaking in confidence, he said the suspect, still being quizzed, would be prosecuted after investigation was completed.
In another development, a 33-year-old driver, Abass Olaiya, has committed suicide by hanging in Ore area of Ondo State.
The father of three hanged himself at a panel beater’s workshop at Onisere Motor Park along Benin/ Ore Road. Sunday Vanguard gathered that Abass killed himself because a dealer, who gave him a car on hire purchase, collected the car back because he failed to meet up with payment schedule . The dealer reportedly collected the car from him on Tuesday and, despite all persuasions by his family members
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