A 62-year-old woman is currently in the net of the police in Somolu, Lagos State, for allegedly swindling members of the public with a fake festering injury on her 12-year-old son.
The woman, according to some residents of the area, had been in the habit of begging for financial assistance from residents using the fake injury on the young boy to attract their attention and sympathy.
An eyewitness, who simply identified herself as Ajoke, said that the woman, who had been for long been feigning the fake injury on the boy for the purpose of collecting money from sympathetic members of the public, was recently detected along the popular Onipanu bus stop in the Somolu area of the state.
A passerby detected the fake injury. The woman poured Gentian violet solution on the leg covered with nylon. During examination it was noticed that the leg was peeling from the dried nylon and GV. And that was when she was discovered to be a fake beggar and a cheat
A passerby, who had noticed that the boy’s festering injury was peeling off, had attempt to offer assistance by examining the affected
leg.
According to Ajoke, the female beggar had used the popular Gentian violet solution and cotton wool covered with nylon to create a semblance of a serious injury on the little boy’s leg “to get sympathy and financial assistance in form of alms from the public.”
“A passerby detected the fake injury. The woman poured Gentian violet solution on the leg covered with nylon. During examination it was noticed that the leg was peeling from the dried nylon and GV. And that was when she was discovered to be a fake beggar and a cheat,” she said.
After discovering the fake injury, some passersby dragged the woman and her son to the Somolu Police Station. It was later discovered that the 12-year-old boy with the fake injury and who was also being used as a beggar, is a primary 6
pupil.
Pedestrians around, who were shocked at the discovery, called for serious intervention by the state to save the little boy being used as a beggar by her
mother.
The woman has been arrested by the police and is currently being held at the Somolu Police Station for further interrogation.
Okanlawon Toyin
Child Protection Network, Somolu
