“He Is My Son”: Abia Father Arrested After Disturbing Abuse Video Sparks Outrage

A disturbing video from Aba, Abia State, has reopened a difficult question in Nigerian homes: when does discipline become abuse?

The Abia State Police Command arrested a man identified as Uzoma Uwaeme after a video showing his 13-year-old son allegedly tied up, stripped naked and flogged circulated widely online.

Police said the teenager was rescued after the video came to the attention of the command.

He was taken for medical treatment and placed under protective custody.

The case has now been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation.

The police said Uwaeme is the boy’s biological father.

The command also said the boy’s mother had reportedly left the marriage and that Uwaeme had remarried.

The circumstances surrounding the alleged abuse remain under investigation.

But beyond the arrest is a bigger conversation about what Nigerian families call discipline.

Children need discipline. They need boundaries. They need consequences when they misbehave.

But discipline is meant to correct behaviour, not destroy dignity.

A parent can be firm without being cruel.

A child can be corrected without being humiliated.

And anger cannot become a licence for violence.

For generations, some Nigerians have treated severe physical punishment as a normal part of raising children.

In some homes, neighbours see abuse and dismiss it as a family matter.

That attitude can be dangerous.

A child does not stop having rights because the person hurting him is his parent.

The viral video also raises another issue.

Social media can expose suffering that might otherwise remain hidden behind closed doors. But once a vulnerable child becomes the centre of a viral story, the public must be careful.

The boy needs protection, medical care and justice. He does not need to become entertainment for the internet.

The police investigation should establish exactly what happened and what led to the incident.

The suspect is entitled to due process, while the child deserves protection from further harm.

The Abia case should therefore become more than another social-media outrage.

It should make parents ask a difficult question: Are we raising disciplined children, or are we simply raising children who are afraid of us?

ADVERTISEMENT

ValidViewNetwork reports that police intervention followed a viral video showing the alleged abuse of a 13-year-old boy in Aba.

ValidViewNetwork reports that the teenager has received medical treatment and remains under protective custody while the case is investigated.