Delta State Government has rewarded a woman erroneously accused of maltreating a nine-year-old niece living with her in Asaba, Delta state.
The woman was given financial support to aid her business and enable her to properly care for the little girl in her custody.
The presentation was done by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Chairman of Delta State Child Rights Implementation Committee, Mrs Oghenekevwe Agas, during the December meeting of the Committee.
The idea of including women in the list of those who benefit from government was discussed during one of the committee’s previous meetings during the celebration of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. The committee discussed the need to punish offenders of child rights laws and celebrate and present gifts to those trying to care for vulnerable and needy children in society.
It could be recalled that a video report of a small girl fetching water with a big iron bucket was sent to a committee member, Barr. Awele Ideal, with a claim that the child was going through abuse and needed to be rescued.
Just immediately, Awele, in collaboration with a field colleague, Comrade Patrick Ochei, swung into action to unravel the mystery behind the report.
The investigation revealed that the girl was not doing what was reported as a matter of child abuse. Still, she chose that part to make her portion of the domestic work easier after she had broken the small rubber bucket assigned to her for fetching water.
Further investigation revealed that the struggling guardian and her petty trading husband had even made efforts to put the little girl in the same school as their children, where they also eat, bathe, and sleep together as one family.
Meanwhile, after the committee members reported the thorough investigation, the Chairman of the Committee, Mrs Agas, decided that such a woman should be supported in her business, no matter how small, to enable her to continue to do her best for her immediate family and the little uncle’s daughter she is helping to take care of.
Of course, the little girl confirmed to the investigators how good the mother had been (as she fondly calls her) and even refused to be taken back home when the proposal was put before her.
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