The Katsina office of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has rescued one Laritu Safiyanu who was chained and caged by her family members in Gyaza village, Kankai Local Government Area of Katsina State.
The state Coordinator of the Commission, Barrister Adamu Umaru Kasimu, said the Commission received information from a good samaritan intimating them of Laritu’s imprisonment in Gyaza on the grounds of alleged mental health issues.
Adamu said it took the intervention of the Commission and other stakeholders to rescue the victim from the inhuman and degrading treatment meted out to her by her family members.
He said investigation revealed that the woman who was kept in a filthy environment unsuitable for human habitation had for a long time been denied her rights to dignity of a human person; a situation he lamented might have contributed to her state of mental instability.
The Commission’s State coordinator, who ordered the immediate release of Laritu from the deplorable condition she was subjected to, also tasked the family to urgently take her to the hospital for thorough medical examination and care, stressing that the Commission would continue to monitor the condition of the victim to ensure that “she gets the right kind of treatment she deserves.”
Adamu used this medium to educate the family of the victim on human rights norms, reiterating that every person deserves to live in dignity and be free from all forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
He asserted that the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended “provides for the right to life and dignity”, stressing, therefore, that “any action that infringes on this fundamental right or any other human right is highly unacceptable and must be discouraged in all ramifications.”
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