Evangelist Held for Child-battering

As an evangelist, Christopher Sule is expected to know that the Bible warns parents never to abuse the power and authority they have over their children.

But the 43-year-old Jos-based evangelist is found to have inflicted lasting physical injuries on his children.

Battered and bruised, the children who have endured having deep lacerations registered on their backs for over three years, have been rescued by the social welfare office of Jos South Local Government.

According to Mr Garba Mancha, the Social Welfare Officer, the office took the action after discovering that the father had persistently used cable wires to beat his two children, aged eight and six.

“We found the children with deep wounds on their bodies; the situation was just horrible,” he said.

Mancha told reporters in Jos that the children had endured the torture “for three years”.

“The shocking aspect is that even their mother did not report to anyone,” he said.

He added that when the report was received, the welfare office summoned Sule and called in the police to take over the matter.

According to him, Sule attributed his actions to the poor academic performance of the children.

Other offences included alleged stealing, stubbornness and returning late, when sent on errands.

“The father, in his statement, confessed to using cable and antenna wires, as well as sticks, to beat the children,” Mancha said.

He added that the mother also attributed the beatings to their poor performance in school as well as stubbornness.

The welfare officer, however, said that same marks were found on the back of the mother when a thorough check was carried out on her.

He said that Sule, however, denied beating the wife, but admitted that they fought when she slapped him.

“During the fight, I used the same wires on her,” he said.

Sule’s wife, Rachael, however denied being brutalised by her husband, but said that she had reported the persistent assault on the children, to family members without result.

Mancha quoted Rachael as describing her husband as “a very loving and caring man, who does not take kindly to poor academic performance and any misbehaviour by the children”.

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