A four-year-old orphan named Ukasha was severely beaten by his guardian, Mai-Naira Abdullahi, in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, for dancing at a wedding reception.
The horrifying incident occurred on Saturday, April 12, 2025, in the Galafima Phase II Area of Tudun Amber, leaving the young child with deep, bloody wounds on his body.
The boy’s joyful dance offended the religious sensibilities of the man he calls his uncle.
A community source who is privy to the situation and witnessed said the child’s joy turned into trauma after the family returned from the wedding party.
“This is just a story of a minor, not just a minor, a baby. He is four years old. He is an orphan. He is staying with a man he calls ‘Uncle’. They went to a wedding reception where he (the boy) was dancing. The boy was dancing to music, and even the uncle’s wife was dancing too, and many children too,” the source narrated.
“It turns out that when they returned home, the uncle said the boy’s dancing was contrary to his beliefs. I think his religious beliefs led him to take it out on the child.
“He started beating the child black and blue. And people kept screaming and all that. He inflicted so many injuries on the child. It took the intervention of one Islamic cleric to rescue the boy.”
Photographs of Ukasha’s injuries show multiple lacerations and bruises on his back, sides, stomach, and face. According to witnesses, the wounds were still fresh and untreated two days after the assault.
A brief interaction with the boy revealed he had not received any form of pain relief or medical attention since the savage beating.
The Men Against Rape Foundation (MARF), a human rights and advocacy group, also condemned the incident in strong terms, calling it “an act that borders on attempted murder” and demanding urgent action from state authorities.
In a statement jointly signed by its Executive Director, Dr Lemmy Ughegbe, and Director of Strategic Development, Dr Augustine Eigbe, the foundation expressed outrage over the abuse and the systemic failure to protect vulnerable children like Ukasha.
According to the group, “Little Ukasha was viciously flogged by Abdullahi for dancing at a neighbourhood naming ceremony alongside other children and women.”
“The uncle, allegedly offended by the boy’s participation in what he considered a violation of his beliefs, subjected the child to a savage beating that left deep cuts on his back, sides, face and stomach,” the group said.
The foundation drew attention to a disturbing pattern of unchecked abuse in the region.
“This is not an isolated case,” the statement noted. “Only in February this year, a student at a well-known Islamic school in Lafia was reportedly flogged to death, yet the matter was buried without justice.”
MARF is now calling on Governor Abdullahi Sule to intervene in the matter personally. The foundation demanded the rescue and rehabilitation of the child, a full-scale investigation into the abuse, and the immediate prosecution of the perpetrator.
“We cannot continue to normalise brutality under the guise of discipline or religious assertion,” the group warned. “A society that cannot protect its children cannot protect its future.”
The foundation also appealed to the National Human Rights Commission, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, and other child protection bodies to ensure Ukasha receives proper care and justice, while advocating for policies that safeguard children’s rights nationwide.
