Boy, 13, thrown into fire for stealing

By Juliana Francis

The victim

Two men, Mr Paul Ifere Amah and Mr Paul Nweke, have been held for throwing a 13-year-old into a fire for stealing rice in Ebonyi State.

According to Mr Sampson Oko Nweke, Chairman, Human Rights Defenders (HURIDE), Ebonyi State, the boy, Ifeanyi Umoke is from Inikiri Benard village in Effium community, Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

Nweke said that the boy's mother was late, while his father was bedridden following an illness.

He said: “Ifeanyi was caught trying to steal some rice in a village market. He was tied up and then thrown into a burning fire in a refuse dump in the market. He began to burn like a goat.”

Nweke explained that he got to know about the incident some days ago from Mr George Etamesor of the Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Centre (HRCRC).

Nweke explained: “Mr Paul Ifere Amah and Mr Paul Nweke, both from the same village, after committing this evil, saw the critical condition of their victim, yet left him groaning. It took the intervention of sympathisers to rush him to Amurt Hospital in Effium. But due to the severity of the burnt, the boy was rejected. Efforts were thereafter made to take him to AE-FETHA2 where he is currently battling between life and death.”

The activist explained that when HURIDE interrogated the perpetrators, they alleged that the victim had been in the habit of stealing cassava, yams and other items.

So this time around, when they caught stealing their rice, they decided to teach him a lesson.

According to them, the lesson should be such that Ifeanyi would never steal from them again.

They reportedly added: “It was not our intention to burn his whole body. We only tied him up and after beating him, we tried to roast his toes in the fire. But because he was struggling, he slipped out of our hands and fell into the fire. Thereafter, he got burnt beyond our expectation.”

Nweke said that human activists had immediately communicated the abuse to the police.