A woman, recognized simply as Mrs. Maxwell, has been arrested
by the police for allegedly assaulting her daughter, Blessing, with a
hot pressing iron.
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.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the incident came to light after a
neighbour, who lived within the Police College Barracks, Ikeja, with the
Maxwells, allegedly called 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, the ywere 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.”
PUNCH Metro 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 our correspondent contacted the Child Director, WAPA, Mrs.
Fadairo, 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.
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