A VIDEO clip of Jibril Aliyu, a 10-year-old boy who hails from Badariya Area of Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, has been making rounds on social media, with many demanding justice for the minor who has been reportedly subjected to abuse by his parents.

In a series of posts on Twitter, Manir Jega, who shared the clips disclosed that Aliyu, who lives with his father and two step mothers was left chained for two years since the passing of his mother, only to be rescued by a human rights activist.

Jega revealed that the poor boy was denied food, shelter, health care and made to live like an animal.

According to Jega, Aliyu survived on eating food remnants and feaces.

“He was maltreated by these same people like an animal to the extent that he was feeding on the remnant food of the animals he was tied with and even ate his faeces, until he was rescued by some human right activist,” Jega said on Twitter.

The ICIR tried to reach out to Jega but all messages sent to him via Twitter were yet to be responded to as of the time of filing this report.

However, it was gathered that Aliyu’s father and his two step mothers are currently in police custody in Kebbi.

Jake Okechukwu Effoduh, a human rights lawyer and partner at Praxis & Gnosis Law, said the country has failed Aliyu and others like him.

Effoduh told The ICIR that there are many infringements on the rights of the boy.

“The boy has been deprived of his dignity and liberty pursuant to Sections 34 and 35 respectively,” Effoduh said.

“Even the state has failed their obligation in Section 17 of our constitution that is supposed to ensure that a child of his age is not abandoned to face such abuse including such moral and material neglect and exploitation.”

He further submitted that beyond the Nigerian constitution, there’s the Child Rights Act, the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Right of the Child and the African Charter Protocol on the Rights of the Child, all of which have been ratified as one of the country’s laws.

He emphasised that in Act 37 of the convention, no child is to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and that no Nigerian child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily.

The lawyer said, all of these have been disregarded in the case of Aliyu.

However as Nigerians condemn the inhuman treatment of Aliyu, and are demanding justice for the him on social media, it was gathered that he is receiving treatment at Federal Medical Center in Birnin Kebbi.

A Twitter user identified as @Tonybrainy said: “The most annoying thing is some useless lawyers will stand for this culprits in court. Forget section 36(6) or principle of natural justice and fair hearing. This people deserve to be convicted, even if they plead not guilty, the judge should record it as guilty.”

Another Twitter user, Tandy of Lagos, submitted that the parents of the boy must be punished.

“The heart of man is indeed wicked, what could that small boy have done for the step mother give him such a terrible treatment? This is the highest level of maltreating someone have ever seen in my life. The woman must be punished,” Tandy’s tweet read.

In an emotional submission, a Twitter user identified as Miss Peters said: “I’m crying uncontrollably, loudly crying face seeing this has just ruined my day. How can you chain a boy with animals for two years, his father allowed his two stepmothers did this to his own son. Jibril I’m sorry,” she said.