A housewife, Bose
Ogedengbe, has been arrested by the police for allegedly brutalising her ward,
Favour, at their house on Bush Street, in the Anthony Village area of Lagos.
Bose and Favour are from
Akoko Edo in Edo State.
The victim’s father, a
farmer, had reportedly handed her over to Bose’s husband, a relation, a year
ago.
The woman reportedly brutalised
the Junior Secondary School two pupil of Mende Junior High School for allegedly
taunting her about her childlessness.
The 13-year-old was rescued
by residents of Ajose Street, Mende, Maryland, where she ran to.
One of those who rescued
her, Wasiu Ismail, an aluminium fabricator, said the victim was found around
6.30am on Friday on the street.
He said, “Around 6.30am on
Friday, an elderly man who lives on this street brought the girl. He said he
saw her with blood all over her body.
“When I queried her, she
said her guardian’s wife maltreated her every day and it was when it became
unbearable that she decided to run away from the house.”
Ismail said when the victim
was queried on the reason for her being beaten, she claimed that she had washed
some clothes the previous day.
According to him, the
13-year-old said she had gone to remove the clothes from the line but some of
them had yet to dry up.
Bose, on discovering that
some of the clothes were still wet, allegedly became angry and brutalised the
victim.
“I asked if she wanted to
go back, but she said she could not because the woman, who she called her aunt,
would kill her,” he added.
The Punch learnt that Bose
later arrived on the street in a car with some men and attempted to take the
victim away, but was resisted by the residents.
The guardian was alleged to
have further brought a policeman from the Anthony division, where she had
reported a case of a missing person.
Again, the residents stood
their grounds.
A student, Suleiman Habeeb,
said they refused to release the teenager because they feared she might be
returned to the guardian.
He said, “Her version of
the story was a bit different. She said the girl abused her that she was a
witch and that was why she had not conceived. She said the girl’s grandma was
behind the mischief.”
A correspondent, who
sighted the victim before she was whisked away by officials of the Lagos State
Youth and Social Development, observed fresh and old torture marks on her.
“We told the woman not to
think that she could use the police to harass us. We called different emergency
numbers of Lagos State and sent distress calls to government agencies. Some
youths wanted to beat up the woman, but we cautioned them. We are happy that
the government has now taken over the case and we hope justice will be done.
“We want the government to
take action against the woman. If you cannot take care of a child, return her
to her parents and do your domestic chores yourself,” Habeeb said.
When The Punch approached
the suspect, she declined comment.
The Director, Public
Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Youths and Social Development, Adeola Olabisi,
said the victim was in the custody of the government.
She said, “The girl said
the woman beats her up at the slightest provocation. She has fading and fresh
scars to show for it. She wishes to continue staying in Lagos, but not with the
woman. We have taken her into custody and handed over the suspect to the police
for prosecution.”
The state Police Public
Relations Officer, CSP Chike Oti, promised to call back, but had yet to do so
as of press time.
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