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| Toyin |
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| The children |
Who will save these hapless children from their mother?
The love of a mother for her child is boundless. But that is only when the woman is not mentally disturbed.
All indications are that this woman, Mrs. Toyin Abiodun, is mentally disturbed. There is no other explanation for what she does to her own children, all under 11 years.
In a fit of rage, she cuts her children with knives and cutlasses. For maximum pain, she puts the knives into the fire first before using them on her children. It’s the depressing testimony of the children against their mother.
Neighbours, teachers, child welfare officials, and even the Baale (chief) of the community where she lives with her four children in a one-room apartment in Akute- Odo, Ogun State corroborate the children’s accounts.
The heads and bodies of the kids also bear eloquent testimonies. They are full of scars. The kids’ hands even bear evidence of dislocations.
The eldest of the kids, Dejitade, 11, is said to be in primary two, yet cannot identify colours and numbers beyond 4.
According to their teachers, when other pupils are eager to go home after school hours, the kids are reluctant to return home to their mother.
Damilola, 4, repeatedly muttered to the Nation reporter who interviewed her: “My mother is wicked”. She said she does not want to live with her again.
In a society where the government has abdicated its duties to its citizens, it’s too much to expect that there will be any succor for these hapless children.
As this is being written, the kids are still with their disturbed mother. Should it be like that?
