Thursday, March 28, 2024

Woman throws girl, 7, to the streets for 3 days

A woman, Mrs. Chinyere Opara, residing at 23, Adekoya Street, Mafoluku, Oshodi, Lagos, has allegedly maltreated and ejected a seven-year-old girl living with her for three days.
It was also gathered that the young girl, Chisom Amadekwa, who is a primary three pupil of Temidire Primary School, Shogunle, Oshodi, was allegedly stopped from attending school for
two terms.
According to neighbours, who spoke to our correspondent, Opara, who is about 40 years, was “in the habit of maltreating the girl for no reason.”
They said on many occasions, she would starve and beat the girl, until her neighbours would intervene to stop her.
A neighbour, identified as Uche Okoro, said, “She is fond of maltreating and starving the girl. At a point, the girl was kicked out of the house. She was found some distance away from home roaming about the streets.
“Before then, I had suspected Chisom was not at home because I had not been seeing her. But I thought, probably, she had been returned to her parents.
After three days, she was brought back by a good Samaritan, who lived within the area. He identified her and brought her home. He is a commercial tricycle operator.”

Another neighbour, Mulikat Ishola, said, “Mrs Opara is very mean. Apart from the fact that she usually beats the girl, she did not do anything about her whereabouts when the girl was away from home. She did not ask anybody the whereabouts of the girl.”

But when contacted by our correspondent, Opara denied the allegations levelled against her, saying, “I didn’t maltreat Chisom. I did not stop her from school. The only time she did not go to school was when she was ill and that was like six weeks.
“I didn’t send her away from home as being alleged. She left home herself and I did everything to find her.”
When our correspondent contacted the authorities of the school Chisom attends, they confirmed that the little girl had been absent for two terms (second and third terms).
A member of the school’s Guidance and Counselling Unit, who did not want to be identified, said Chisom had been psychologically affected, adding that she usually distanced herself from
other pupils.
Child protection activist, Ebenezer Omajelile, insisted that the victim must be taken into protective custody by social workers in the state Ministry of Youths and Social Development, as the ministry had been petitioned to take over the issue of the young girl’s welfare and proper upkeep.

Popular Articles