A 7-year-old girl who slumped in school has been hospitalized at a private hospital at the Ire-Akari Estate in Isolo area of Lagos State after she was reportedly sent to school on an empty stomach.
The victim, identified as Ifechukwu Jubilee, a primary 2 pupil of Ire-Akari Model Primary School, also had visible marks of violence all over her body which she sustained from her aunt identified only as Ngozi.
Neighbours at their 19 Owofuju Street, told Vanguard that Ngozi, a pregnant mother of one allegedly beat the girl at the slightest provocation.
Ngozi’s husband usually reprimanded her for the maltreating Jubilee who is her niece but she seemed adamant as she went ahead to ask her to do her chores in the morning of Friday, November 13, 2015 before leaving for school.
The victim dozed off in one of the rooms and when Ngozi caught her, she was enraged and beat her mercilessly before she left for school in tears and on an empty stomach.
Speaking about the incident a teacher who preferred not to be identified on print said: “She looked very pale and weak when she came to school, with her hands swollen and injuries in some parts of her body.
“It was when she fainted that we knew something was wrong. When she came out of coma, her first words were that she was hungry and narrated how her aunt usually beat her with a hard object.
“We thank God she did not die in the school. How would we have been able to explain that kind of situation?”
When Ngozi’s husband visited her at the station, he warned her never to set her feet in his house again.
He said: “Only God knows what I am going through in my wife’s hands. I have cautioned her several times over the manner she beats the little girl. This is the last straw.”
Meanwhile, a non-governmental organization, Women Right and Health Project, has promised to follow up the investigation and ensure the victim was safe.
Ngozi pleaded for leniency and claimed that prior to the incident, she had always taken care of the girl well.
