The
daughter, Blessing, a primary three student of the Lagos Model Nursery and
Primary School, Ikeja GRA, was allegedly assaulted last Monday by her mother
for licking the baby’s food.
It was
gathered a neighbour, who lived within the Police College Barracks, Ikeja, with
the Maxwells,brought the incident to light after calling the authorities of the
LMNPS to complain about Blessing’s condition.
Blessing’s
father is said to be a police corporal.
A source
within the school, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, “It was last
Friday that we got the anonymous call. At the time, two of Blessing’s younger
siblings were in school, so we called them aside and asked after Blessing.
“At first,
they were both scared that they would get into trouble with their mother if
they told the truth but they eventually opened up and said their mother had
used a hot pressing iron on Blessing.”
The Head
Teacher of the school, accompanied by some other employees of the school, was
said to have visited Blessing at home.
It was
learnt that on arriving at the Maxwells’ house, Blessing was seen sitting
outside their flat, sporting burn marks all over her body.
The source
said, “We tried to question Blessing about what happened to her, but she was
scared of her mother. Eventually, we went into the house and confronted the
mother, but she lied that hot water had mistakenly poured on Blessing.
“When we
asked if Blessing had received medical attention for her injuries, her mother
got annoyed and dragged Blessing into the house. She then refused to answer
more questions. Since it was a police barracks, we thought it wise to leave
quietly before things got out of hand.
“The most
painful aspect of the whole issue is that despite Blessing’s wounds, their
neighbour told us that she had been carrying out house chores like before. From
what I saw, that girl is so injured that I didn’t expect that she would be able
to come to school for the rest of the term. Not one of us guessed that she was
being abused at home.”
It was
gathered that both mother and child were picked up by officials of the Lagos
State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation after the school
authorities alerted the ministry. Blessing was said to have been picked up by a
Lagos State Ambulance Service bus.
When the
Child Director, WAPA, Mrs. Fadairo, was contacted she said, “I cannot
talk at this time. We are at the hospital and Blessing is in critical
condition.”
Lagos
State Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, could not be reached for
comment.
Punch
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