Dad kept boy chained in animal shed for two years, made him eat goat feed while living in luxury with three wives
A 12-year-old boy was reportedly rescued by a rescue team after he spent nearly two years starving and living off goat feed in an animal shed. The boy's father and three stepmothers, meanwhile, lived with his 17 siblings in comfort, reports state. The boy was saved on Sunday, August 9, after a tip-off to a team of human rights lawyers led the authorities to an animal shed. The incident took place in Nigeria.
The authorities found the boy in the shed and it was reported that he was barely able to stand and was starving. He was chained to a wooden pillar and had been living among goats and chickens for at least two years, the BBC reported.
The head of the rescue team, Hamza Attahiru Wala, said that the boy's family, including his father and the father's three wives, were living in comfort all this while inside their home. The 12-year-old's mother is believed to have died two years ago, which may have resulted in his inhuman treatment. The boy was rushed to a hospital in Birnin Kebbi, where he is currently being looked after in intensive care. The rescue team's public relations officer, DSP Nafi'u Abubakar, released a statement on the incident, saying: "Yes our men have arrested a father to an 11-year-old, Jibrin Aliyu, and three wives for allegedly chaining the boy for over two years."
"Our men arrested the suspects in Badariya area of Birnin Kebbi Local Government, and the boy is at Sir Yahaya Memorial Hospital as the investigation is still ongoing to unravel the circumstances behind chaining the boy in animal stall for that period," the officer said.
The boy's elder brother reportedly told journalists that the child suffered from epilepsy and that the family had chained him to the post in an effort to stop him from going missing. The brother also claimed that the boy was tied up at the animal shed only during daylight hours and insisted that he sold his house and car to fund epilepsy treatment for the 12-year-old.
In a similar incident, a six-year-old boy from Dallas, Texas was found tied up in a shed in May. The child reportedly revealed to police officials that his grandmother would often kick him, grab his ears, and give him a plastic bag when he wanted to use the bathroom. He also told authorities that Esmeralda Lira, 53, would lock him tied up in her backyard shed for nearly two weeks and would use a hose to spray him down whenever she felt he needed to be bathed. Lira and her 66-year-old boyfriend, Jose Balderas, was arrested by Dallas law enforcement on Mother's Day, May 10, and were charged with felony counts of child endangerment.
The minor, who was not been identified, shared the details of his abuse during a forensic interview. He told the authorities that he had just been locked in the shed for about an hour when officers arrived at the scene. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by CBS DFW, the boy said that his grandmother would lock him up in the shed whenever she left home on Conston Drive. He added that Lira would often lock him inside saying he was bad.