Palpable
confusion reigned in Owerri, yesterday, as a father tied his seven
children, including his triplet, to a wheel-barrow and was heading to an
unknown destination before officials of Ministry of Women Affairs and
Social Development intervened.
The 44-year-old man, Israel Dike, is a
native of Odenkume, Obowo Local Government Aarea of Imo State, but
resides in Ugwu Ekwema, Egbu Road, Owerri.The children’s hands were
securely tied to a wheelbarrow while the man was soliciting for buyers
for the children, saying he was fed up with his dwindling economic
fortunes.
A staff of the ministry said
“Following
a tip off, a high powered team led by the Commissioner for Women
Affairs, Mrs. Nma Onyechere, quickly went and rescued the children.”
Apart
from disclosing that he planned selling some of them with a view to
enabling him take proper care of others, Dike equally lamented that
Governor Rochas Okorocha put him in the mess he has found himself today.
“Owelle
Okorocha is the cause of what I am passing through today. He made me a
promise in the past and has failed to redeem it till today,”
Speaking
to newsmen at the scene, the commissioner described Dike as a
“depressed man, who is mentally deranged.”While urging Dike’s wife to go
for family planning, the commissioner equally promised that government
would carefully ascertain the level of the man’s mental problem.
Mrs.
Onyechere said the ministry would find a way of giving out the children
to foster parents with a view to ensuring adequate care and their
education.
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