- It wasn’t deliberate, I only tried to save our house from being razed – Abiodun
- She maltreats her often – Neighbours
These, indeed, are not the best of times for Ayokehin Naijirio, a teenager forced by the ill-luck of losing her parents early in life to live with her half-sister in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
Family members, who had thought she would be in safe hands, now have a second thought.
Shortly after moving in with her half-sister, Mrs. Abiodun Olayemi, life took an unexpected turn as the 15-year-old allegedly began to undergo some unpleasant experience at the hands of the mother of one.
Unlike every other child, Naijirio only goes to school at the whims and caprices of her half-sister as she’s allegedly saddled daily with overwhelming household chores.
According to the information gathered by our correspondent, the status of the teenager, who lives with her half-sister at number 5, Deji Adaboyan Street, Aga, Ikorodu, soon degenerated and transformed to that of a housemaid at the expense of her education.
It was learnt that while her colleagues would be in the classroom learning, she would be busy running various errands for her half-sister at home. This, it was alleged, was responsible for the current situation in which the 15-year-old is still in primary 5 at Aga Primary School Ikorodu, unlike the other children of her age.
Inspite of her ‘diligence’ in handling household chores, however, it was gathered that she could hardly satisfy her half-sister, who allegedly held on to her own opinion that Naijirio could be negligent and lackadaisical, especially regarding cooking.
It was, therefore, not a surprise that penultimate Sunday, the teenage girl was allegedly bathed with hot water by her half-sister after she slept off while the family’s food she was cooking in the kitchen got burnt.
Her right arm was seriously affected with a large blister caused by the burns she suffered from the hot water allegedly poured on her by her half-sister.
Some residents of Deji Adaboyan, who spoke with our correspondent, recounted the ill-treatment the young girl had suffered at the hands of her guardian over a long time.
Her half-sister’s neighbour, Mr. Lateef Shitu, said, “I wonder who gave the girl to them for upbringing. This girl has been going through hell at the hands of her guardian. Sometimes, as young as she is, you will see her sent on an errand at night on lonely and dark roads. Sometimes, you will see her running errands during school hours. On several occasions I have challenged her guardians why the girl is not in school like other children, but they told me that she’s busy with domestic assignments; I wondered what assignment they are talking about.
“I learnt that the girl was asked to cook late in the night and she forgot what she was cooking on the stove and she slept off. When the woman woke up and saw that the food was already burning and the girl was still sleeping, she poured the food on the girl in order to punish her.”
Another resident of the street, who simply identified herself as Mariam, said, “I will advise the parents of this girl not to waste time in taking her away from these people, if they still need her alive. The maltreatment she receives from this people is too much. If not for the girl’s teacher in school that raised the alarm over this case, when they saw the burns on her body, nothing would have been done. I can’t imagine someone will bathe her half-sister or house maid with hot water over a trivial offence like that..”
Naijirio herself could not be reached for her comments on the incident as she’s said to be in “protective custody.”
This girl has been going through hell at the hands of her guardian. Sometimes, as young as she is, you will see her sent on an errand at night on lonely and dark roads. Sometimes, you will see her running errands during school hours
Speaking with our correspondent, the young girl’s half-sister/guardian, Mrs. Abiodun, denied deliberately bathing her with hot water as being alleged.
According to her, she had only attempted to save the whole house from being razed due to Naijirio’s negligence by flinging the pot, but it mistakenly fell on the teenager, where she was fast asleep.
“I didn’t pour the hot water on her deliberately. It was a mistake, when I was about to save the whole house from fire.
”At about 4.am, Naijirio woke up to prepare food, as she used to do before she goes to school. It was in the process that she abandoned what she was cooking and she went back to bed. Meanwhile, I was asleep at that time, but I later woke up due to the noise from my baby, who was coughing seriously. When I woke up, the whole house was filled with smoke and I traced the smoke to the kitchen only to discover it was as a result of what was burning on fire. Being a woman, what immediately came to my mind was to throw the pot outside. But in the process, the pot fell on her hand and hurt her,” Abiodun said.
She also claimed to have made efforts to give the young girl some first aid treatment by taking her to a chemist.
It was also gathered that some residents of the area, who were touched by the young girl’s ordeal, reported the case to the office of a non-governmental organisation, Community Women’s Rights Foundation, at Igbogbo.
The NGO later took up the matter and reported the incident at the Igbogbo Police Division.
CWRF Coordinator, Lateef Akiborode, said, “Crimes like this are not tolerable in the society again. Therefore, justice will be sought for the young girl, if investigation shows that the guardians are
culpable.”
Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, said, “The case has yet to be reported to my office.”
