A child is a precious gift that many desire to have. While some are blessed to have a lot of children, some people only pray and wish to have one and when they eventually get one, they guard it jealously.
What then could make a parent kill or want to kill their own child?
Killing of children by their parents claimed the lives of at least 27 children in 13 states in Nigeria between 2020 and 2021, investigation by 21ST CENTURY CHRONICLE reveal.
The data was obtained from newspaper repor from January 2020 to September 2021.
The incidents occurred in 13 states across the country.
While Kano State has the highest number in the north with five fatalities, Ogun came second and first in the south with four victims in the period under review.
Others are: Yobe 3; Jigawa 1;, Akwa Ibom 2; Enugu 1; Osun1; Ebonyi 2; Edo ; Jigawa 1; Katsina 1; Nasarawa 1; Kaduna 1; and Lagos 1.
In one of the incidents which occurred on March 21, 2021, a 29-year-old herbalist, Baoku Gbuyi and a 27-year-old bricklayer, Olamide Odulaja, were apprehended by detectives of Ogun State Police command, for allegedly killing the 4-year-old son, Peter Folorunsho for money ritual.
In another incident which occurred on September 18, a 57-year-old man known as Emeka Ezimadu, killed two of his biological children, Ifechukwu and Nmeso, aged nine and two years respectively.
In a crime of passion, a housewife, Hauwa Habibu of Diso Quarters, Kano State, stabbed two of her children to death on October 4, 2020
In the same vein, a 22-year-old housewife, Khadija Yakubu, killed her three stepchildren with poison in Potiskum town, Yobe State.
Pastor Godfery Akon of Calvary Chapel, Abuja, spoke with 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE on this issue.
He said Christians believe in child discipline in line with biblical instruction on guiding children, as spelt out in Proverbs 13:24 which says he who spares the rod spoils the child.
Akon, pointed out that the bible also teaches unconditional love, which should serve as a regulation for child discipline.
He, however, attributed the rise in such crimes to depletion of values in the society and pointed out that the society can only change if people embark on deep reflections and change individually.
“When this is done, what shall manifest is the positivity we have been yearning for in our people.”