Amatobi was reported to have repeatedly hit the baby with a plastic object to stop him from crying until the right hand broke.
The Nigeria Police Force says it has yet to receive any official complaint about a two-month-old baby whose father allegedly broke his arm for crying.
SaharaReporters reported earlier that a man identified as Confidence Amatobi, a native of Amurie in Isu LGA of Imo state, allegedly broke his two-month-old baby’s arm for “disturbing his sleep.”
The assault on the little baby which led to the amputation of the fractured arm has attracted condemnation and outrage with the Imo State Chapter of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), and the National Human Right Commission (NHRC) calling on the Imo Government and the police to immediately arrest and prosecute the suspect.
However, when SaharaReporters reached out to the spokesman for the state police command, CSP Mike Abattam, for comments about the incident, he said the police had not received any official complaint.
According to him, "as it is now, the police have not received any official complaint about the incident."
SaharaReporters had reported that NAWOJ, NHRC and the mother of the baby (Miracle) had in a joint press briefing in Owerri on Monday, lamented the assault and called for justice for the baby.
The Imo State Chairperson of NAWOJ, Dr Dorothy Nnaji, said the injury inflicted on the baby by his 31-year-old father led to the amputation of the little boy’s right hand at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Owerri.
Expressing shock over the incident, Mrs Nnaji, described it as dastardly cruel that a father could assault his innocent child simply because he was crying and disturbing his sleep.
She disclosed that Amatobi was reported to have repeatedly hit the baby with a plastic object to stop him from crying until the right hand broke.
Describing the attack on the little boy as the height of child abuse, the chairperson demanded justice for the baby since he could not speak for himself.
The Imo State Coordinator of NHRC, Mrs Ukachi Ukah, also condemned the brutality and insisted that justice must be allowed to take its course.
Narrating her ordeal, the mother of Miracle, Mrs Favour Chikwe who hails from Idemili Community, Anambra State, disclosed that she left Miracle with his father on Friday, October 7, 2022, to go to the ladies, when the incident happened.
Favour recalled that she overheard her baby crying uncontrollably and had to rush back to know the cause, only for her to discover that his right hand was swollen. She said she found the bone of the boy’s right arm broken from the beating he received from his father.
It was learnt that Amatobi confessed that the baby was disturbing him with his cry while he was sleeping and he had to try to stop him by battering him.
She said: “When l confronted him about what he did, he locked us in the room, to prevent me from telling people about his wicked deed or seek for help. He also collected my phone from me so that I will not call the neighbours.”
She narrated how hospitals in the community refused to treat the baby before she eventually got to FMC Owerri where the amputation was done.
The woman appealed for support to save her child while calling on the state government, NHRC and other civil society organisations to assist her to get justice for him.