By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The sudden transfer of nine-year-old Idimmachukwu who was brutalized and injured by her guardian over the weekend to another hospital in Asaba, Delta State, without the knowledge of the Ministry of Women Affairs championing her cause is creating ripples in Anambra state.

The under-aged house help, whose situation was discovered by some concerned individuals while she was on her way to throw away bags of garbage, was earlier admitted at a hospital in Awka. The Anambra State Ministry of Women Affairs had waded into the house help’s matter before her unannounced transfer to another hospital.

Idimmachukwu’s transfer to First Delta American Hospital, Asaba, was announced by a skit maker, Lord Zeus, on social media.

Announcing the transfer of the child on his social media handle with a video of the girl in the current hospital, Zeus wrote: “Not to risk sounding derogatory, but I don't like the hospital she was initially kept at Awka. Everything there, including the beds look old.

"So we took her to First Delta American Hospital, Asaba. The little girl is traumatized; she fidgets when you touch her. The hospital suggested getting her a therapist, to overcome the trauma...”

Confirming the transfer, the victim's mother, Mrs Chinyere Chukwujekwu, said that it was the hospital management that discharged child to her without their influence or intervention, saying that they had finished treating her.

She said: “They said they were done with their treatments, and therefore, discharged her to us. But my daughter was still crying and complaining of her hands and other pains around her body.

“This got us so worried, and people suggested that we should take her to bigger hospital for an ultra scan, since that hospital does not have the facilities for that. That was why and how we got here to this current hospital in Asaba.”

On whether they alerted the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Ify Obinabo, the NGO and Nnewi indigenes that have shown interest in the child’s wellbeing before transferring the child from the Awka hospital to another one; Idimmachukwu’s mother said no.

She, however, apologised for not informing them, noting that the action was taken as a matter of urgency and necessity, given the painful cry by her daughter who, she said, kept crying and complaining of her hands and pains before she was taken to the current hospital.

Asked if her daughter lacked anything while she was in the previous hospital, Chukwujekwu confirmed that her child lacked nothing, adding: “There was no lack of money; and so, lack of money was not the reason we transferred her to another hospital.

“We did so, not because of lack of money or care, but because of my daughter’s continued complaints and cries, even before and after she was discharged from the previous hospital, and because of the need for better medical attention.”

The victim’s mother however said that Idimmachukwu’s closed eyes were now open, while her health condition has continually recorded more improvement since she was taken to the Asaba hospital.

The Anambra State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Ify Obinabo, in her reaction, said she was not aware of the transfer of the child from the hospital to another one.

She wondered why the child would be moved out without her notice, despite her Ministry's commitments and full involvement in the matter.

She recounted the efforts so far made by her office in ensuring the general wellbeing and welfare of the child and her family there at the Awka hospital in the last few days, stressing that her Ministry made great efforts in the general pursuit of the case, including the arrest and the incarceration of the suspect, whom, she revealed, would be charged to court on Wednesday, May 17.

“It is very horrible for the people to have transferred that child out of the hospital without our consent and outside our knowledge.

“Nnewi indigenes had earlier expressed interest in bankrolling the hospital bills of the child and caring for her. They had also nursed the plan with the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Dr. Joseph Ugboaja, to transfer her down to NAUTH and be treated there.

“The young girl in question, Miss Idimmachukwu, is a native of Nnewi. Anambra State Government is capable of caring for the child and settling her hospital bills, as we have always done for other victims in the past. However, the indigenes of Nnewi expressed interest in bankrolling the bills themselves.

“Lord Zeus or whosever they said the comedian is, had never paid or been paying hospital bills for us. So, I wonder how and why he just came from nowhere and transfered the child from the hospital to another hospital without our knowledge and consent. That is quite disappointing,” the Commissioner said.

On his part, a stakeholder in Nnewi and member representing Nnewi North Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly, Hon. Nonso Smart Okafor, said he was also not aware of the transfer of the child to another hospital but got to know about it after the transfer.

He added that Nnewi indigenes were fully capable, ready and interested in bankrolling the bills of the young girl and ensuring her welfare to any level.

While warning that nobody should use the child to beg for money in anyway, for her treatment or for anything else, he expressed anger that the girl was moved to another hospital, outside the State, without any of the Nnewi indigenes and stakeholders being informed of such move.

“I was infuriated about how and why such thing happened without our knowledge. There was no consensus by the Nnewi indigenes to transfer the child from that hospital to another hospital in Asaba.

“I contacted the Commissioner for Women Affairs, under whose custody the child was, but was surprised to hear that she, too, was not aware of the move before it happened,” Okafor said.

Meanwhile, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed knowledge of the victim’s transfer from Awka hospital, but noted that the Police was not aware of or involved in the said transfer of the victim to another hospital.

He said that he had no knowledge of whether or not the Idimmachukwu was taken to another hospital, adding that the child was discharged to her parents and handed over to them as well.

When contacted, the State Principal, Save and Secure the Child Initiative, which is a lead NGO following the matter from day one, Mr. Kingsley Obi, said the organisation was also not aware of the development.

Obi said he led his team to the hospital to visit the girl as they had always done on daily basis, only to hear that she was no longer in the hospital.

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