Couple arrested for starving a 12-year-old girl for eight months in Sokoto (Photos)
The Sokoto Police Command has rescued a 12-year-old girl, Joy Emmanuel, from solitary confinement of eight months.
The girl was said to have been caged for that period by her guardians identified as Emmanuel Basey and his wife Esther Emmanuel at the Sokoto Cinema area in Sokoto North Local Government Area.
Joy was also said to have been starved.
It was gathered that the couple claimed “she is mentally unstable” but were later proven otherwise by the police.
The spokesman for the Sokoto State Police Command, Sanusi Abubakar, said the girl was rescued on Thursday while the suspects were arrested and detained at the Dadin Kowa police station.
“They kept the girl in a cage at their compound and starved her of food for eight months.
“When our men broke the door of the cage, the girl was too frail to walk because she was emaciated.
“We met her in a very horrible situation, urinating and excreting inside the cage.
“The girl was taken to the specialist’s hospital for treatment,” he said told Daily Trust.
He said that both the victim and the suspects would be handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Person and other Related Matters for further action.
