The Federal Government has declared wanted and placed a N2 million bounty on Mrs Adachukwu Kukelu Okafor, an Anambra lawyer, who allegedly burnt the private parts and body of her 10-year-old maid.
Video footage of the naked little girl with burns injury all over her private parts, face and body went viral on the social media and attracted widespread condemnation.
Reacting to the incident, the Minister for Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye at a press conference in Abuja, yesterday, said the perpetrator, who is believed to be a lawyer, has been on the run since the incident occurred.
She said the suspect changed her line but was still posting on social media claiming nothing would be done to her while the young girl languished in pain in the hospital.
The Minister said: “I decided to keep quiet on the issue of Mrs Adachukwu Kukelu Okafor, who burnt the private parts and body of her 10-year-old househelp with a hot knife and hot iron in Anambra state. I kept quiet because I thought it would have been solved by now but since it hasn’t, I have decided to wade into the issue.”
“Some people wonder why the Women Affairs ministry always wades into issues but it is within my purview to get involved in anything that concerns women and children across the nation.
“With the President we have right now, it’s time for Nigerians to fight for their rights and it can only happen with a President that listens and I don’t want Nigerians to miss out. So I am declaring Adachukwu Kukelu Okafor wanted. “Please Nigerians, go out there, search for this woman, bring her out and hand her over to any police station. “The Women Affairs Ministry is offering Two Million naira (N2 million) to anyone that finds her, hands her over to the police, helps the police in her capture or provides the information to the Women Affairs ministry.
“We need the woman urgently because the girl is in pain and in the hospital. It could be your child or relative tomorrow so let’s not fold our hands.
“In a couple of days, this ministry would make a pronouncement on taking house helps that are less than 18 years. We are going to put a stop to it and need whistleblowers to give us information.
“Nigeria already has a law against taking underage maids, so we intend to implement it. Nigerians can also come to us and report such cases or cases of people who withhold other people’s wages and you would see immediate action.”
