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.
Investigations revealed that the 44-year-old
man, Israel Dike, is a native of
Odenkume, Obowo Local Government Area of Imo State, but resides in Ugwu Ekwema,
Egbu Road, Owerri.
The childrens' 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 told Vanguard:
“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,” Dike said. 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. Answering a question, 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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