According to the police, the suspect as punishment, used a spatula to beat the 10-year-old and inserted Aboniki balm (methyl salicylate ointment) inside her private parts and her eyes. The suspect also allegedly inflicted teeth bites all over the girl’s body. It was after the girl fainted during the beating that her aunt rushed her to a hospital in the Ajah area, but she was rejected. Amodu then took her niece to a military hospital on the Victoria Island, but the victim was referred to the Military Hospital, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi. It was at the military hospital that a non-governmental organisation, Hands that Care, took over the case and reported it to the police.
The suspect, crying profusely, said she only beat her niece on three occasions. That the victim was her uncle’s daughter and she would never attempt to kill her.
“I am very sorry for my action. I did not envisage what happened. The first time she wet the bed, I warned her to stop bedwetting because she is too old for that. She was left under my care by her father who is my uncle, so I needed to correct her. This is the second time she wet the bed and I needed to teach her a lesson. As I was beating her, she passed out. She was released to me by her father when I told him about the strange sickness that used to hit me because I was lonely and needed a companion.”
The victim could not talk much, but when asked if she was tortured by her cousin, she nodded in approval. National Coordinator of the Hands that Cares, Mrs. Jacinta Nworie, said the girl was released to the suspect by her father in Kogi State because Amodu promised to train her in Lagos.
“The victim told us that the suspect bit her, inserted ointment into her private part and used stick to beat her up.”
Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, who expressed shock over the incident, described Amodu’s action as wicked. She said:
“On February 29, 2014, the police at Onikan Division got information that a little girl was in one hospital in critical condition. The officers went there and found the victim with her face and hands swollen as a result of beating. The victim was later referred to the Military Hospital, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi for better treatment. An NGO, Hands that Care, was invited into the case by a good Nigerian. The NGO said it would settle the girl’s hospital bills, but called for Amodu’s prosecution.
It was learnt that the family members were already pleading that the victim and the suspect be released to them, saying it was a family matter. But a police source said since the victim was a minor, the government would decide if the case should be treated as a family matter or not.
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