A
nine-year-old housemaid, Precious Chinwedu, says she is still having pains two
weeks after her boss, Mrs. Ifeoma Mbakwe, poured hot water on her for allegedly
stealing crayfish.
The
incident happened around 8pm on December 27 on Idowu Oya Street, Agbado, Lagos
State.
The
primary 3 pupil, who spoke with our representative on Friday at Rem-Yems, a
private hospital in Agbado, where she was admitted, said the woman had sent her
to bring the crayfish in the kitchen.
Chinwedu
said she had explained to her boss that she could not find the crayfish, but
the woman accused her of eating it without her permission. She said Mbakwe
angrily took a small pestle and hit her in the head.
Not
done, Mbakwe, the mother of a seven-month-old baby, reportedly bit the girl in
the back before pouring the hot water on her.
She
said, “She (Mbakwe) said I should bring crayfish, but I told her I did not see
it. She said I ate it. She used something we used to grind pepper to hit my
head. She bit me in the back and poured hot water on me.”
The
girl, who hails from Orlu, Imo State, said, apart from regular beating, the
woman would not give her lunch, adding that she wanted to go back to her
parents.
“She
does not give me food regularly. There is no food for me in the afternoon when
I come back from the school. Sometimes, she would not give me food in the
evening. I was brought to Lagos in July. She always beat me. I want to go back
to my parents,” she said.
A
nurse at the hospital, who did not want her name in print, said the clothes
which Chinwedu wore when she was brought to the hospital was removed from her
body with scissors.
“The
woman said the girl mistakenly poured hot water on herself. She was in pains.
We have treated her and she is now getting better,” she said.
A
neigbour of Ifeoma, who identified herself as Abe, said they had cautioned her
to stop beating the girl to no avail.
“If
any of the neighbours gave her food, she would beat her. We talked to her
several times to stop beating the girl, but she refused. I was not at home on
the day the incident happened, she did not allow anybody to intervene,” she
added.
The
President, Youth Alive Ojokoro, Babalola Saheed, said Mbakwe initially said the
girl was her child, but later told the police that she was her housemaid and
that she punished her for stealing a piece of meat.
He
said, “A member called me on December 30, 2015, to come to the hospital to see
the girl. I met the woman and asked how it happened. She lied that the girl was
her daughter.
“She
was not remorseful. I contacted the Ojokoro Police Station and she was
arrested.
“She
was later transferred to Isokoko Police Division and she told the police that
the girl stole a piece of meat from the pot and ate the baby’s food.
“We
later learnt that she had taken her to a nurse for treatment before she brought
her to the hospital.”
Meanwhile,
Mbakwe had been arraigned before an Ogba Magistrates’ Court last Tuesday on two
counts of assault.
She
was granted bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in like sum after she
pleaded not guilty to the counts.
The
case was adjourned till January 27, 2016.
Source: The Punch
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