- My wife deserves to be punished – Husband
At first sight, one is tempted to conclude that 9-year-old Rose Ojebe just escaped from a boxing ring after being pummeled and knocked out by a stronger opponent in the game.
Ojebe’s battered face is disfigured, with her nose and lips swollen beyond their normal sizes! On her head is another injury swathed in bloodstained cotton wool. One then wonders what offence she must have committed to deserve such a merciless beating and who on earth must have done this to a child.
Ojebe’s aunt, Mrs. Ifeoma Anyaele, is the alleged culprit. The offence committed by the 9-year-old girl: Failure to hone her cooking and kitchen skill. Unlike any other child of her age, who should still be under the care of her parents, Ojebe, a primary four pupil, is already saddled with the responsibility of cooking and performing other kitchen duties by her aunt she lives with at 12 Sakiru Owolabi Street, off Selewu Road, Igbogbo, Ikorodu, Lagos.
Left with no option, the 9-year-old had been managing to live up to her aunt’s expectations in the kitchen until she erred and got much more than the thrashing of the rod.
She had been beating me like that before. There was a day she hit me with a torchlight on my head in the middle of the night and I became drenched in my own blood, due to an injury she inflicted on my head
The Point gathered that Ojebe was allegedly brutalised by her aunt, Anyaele, who allegedly used the heel of a stiletto shoe in place of a whip in beating her on her head, face and other parts of the body for failing to properly set the cooking stove before putting a pot of water on it.
Anyaele, it was also learnt, had allegedly formed the habit of allegedly maltreating the little girl since she brought her into her Lagos home after her father’s sudden death.
Ojebe’s mother, who is an elder sister to Anyaele, was said to have been compelled to entrust her 9-year-old daughter in the care of her younger sister, when she could no longer afford to send her to school.
Recounting her ordeal to The Point, Ojebe said, “She asked me to help her boil water, but she said I didn’t set the stove very well and started beating me.
At a point, she started beating me with her shoe, which later injured my head. She used the shoe to beat me on my body, hand, back and everywhere. My mother is in Abriba, Abia State but my daddy is dead.
“She had been beating me like that before. There was a day she hit me with a torchlight on my head in the middle of the night and I became drenched in my own blood, due to an injury she inflicted on my head.
She also beats me on my legs.” Surprisingly, Anyaele’s husband, Stephen, who spoke with The Point, corroborated the allegations the little girl leveled against his wife. He said, “I was called by my landlord that my wife was about to kill the little girl living with us. And as it was reported, when I got back home, I met her still beating the little girl as if she was fighting with her own mate. I was so annoyed when I met her beating the girl, but I couldn’t do anything because she is heavily pregnant.
When I saw the injuries that the girl had sustained from the beating, I had to quickly take her for treatment in a chemist’s shop beside our house. “When I asked her why she had to beat the girl to such an extent, she couldn’t tell me anything. But the girl said she was sent to light the stove and my wife complained that she didn’t set the stove well and descended on her.
“I am not happy with her. In fact, if not that she is pregnant, I would have beaten the hell out of her, because I was surprised at the way she was beating the girl.” Neighbours to the Anyaele’s, who spoke with The Point, alleged that the little girl had always been a victim of her aunt’s anger since she joined the household.
One of them, Olamilekan Kehinde, alleged that Anyaele even chased Ojebe out of the house after her husband quarreled with her for maltreating the girl. “We all in this area know that the girl is unlucky to live with that woman.
Since I have known her in that place, she has been facing series of difficulties and sometimes, I wish I have power to take her from them, because if you see what the woman subjects her to everytime, you will pity the girl,” he said.
Speaking further on how he and other residents intervened and took the girl to an advocacy group’s office, Olamilekan said, “We saw the girl crying at a shop close to our house and we decided to see what was wrong with her because there were bruises all over her body.
When we asked her why she was crying, she managed to tell us that her aunt injured her with shoe, when she failed to help her boil water for her kids. Though we did believe her, we took pity on her and decided to take her to the office of the Community Women Right Foundation for attention.”
Another resident, who simply identified himself as Tunde, said “The woman is a full house wife. Her husband is a trader in Yaba Market. When her husband saw that the girl was seriously injured by his wife, he took her to a chemist for first aid. But when he left, the little girl refused to go back home, claiming that the woman would kill her and we took her to CWRF’s office.”
The Director, CWRF, Lateef Akinborode, told The Point that the little girl was in a deplorable condition when the case was reported to his office. He said, “It is quite unfortunate that despite the immense efforts and serious campaign in the media on violence against children and women, some people still see no crime in the act. When I saw the condition of the little girl on her arrival in my office, I felt so bad because her face was another thing if you see it.
Her head was already punctured with the shoe she was beaten with and blood was coming out. Other parts of her body were equally brutalised. Immediately I saw her, I made up my mind that whoever did this to her would pay for it.
We reported the case at Igbogbo Police Division, where they asked the girl to be given immediate medical attention at the Ikorodu General Hospital. “I learnt that she refused to go back home after her aunt’s husband took her to a chemist for first aid.
It was from the place that my office was called upon, and when I saw her she was in a pitiable condition as she could barely talk due to the injuries sustained from the merciless beating.” Akinborode disclosed that the victim was still undergoing treatment in the hospital, while her aunt, Anyaele, had been invited by the police for questioning.
