A pregnant Abuja lady, 36yrs old Kemi Egbukole, is facing criminal charges after she viciously attacked her 16yrs old house help by pouring steaming hot water on her, severely injuring her for waking up late.
Kemi, an Abuja big girl, badly burnt Hope David's br*asts with the boiling water...
The mother of two claimed that attacked Hope because she failed to wake up early. Funny enough, she had earlier denied responsibility for the assault.
According to the Deputy Director, Protection and Investigations at the NHRC, Lambert Oparah, Kemi later admitted the attack, but claimed it was an accident, and that Hope was taken for medical treatment.
Mr. Oparah however noted that the medication given to Hope was faulty. “She was taken to a chemist, they put plasters around her br*ast which was not quite good,” he said.
Neighbours at Minta 1 Estate, Lokogoma, Abuja, where the family lives, said Kemi had been a notorious child abuser, who repeatedly attacked Hope with dangerous objects including rods. They said the latest attack happened on March 3, 2016.
One of the neighbours who reported the matter to the Human Rights Commission NAPTIP in persons told PT that she took the decision after seeing the serious injury inflicted on Hope’s br*ast.
The neighbour said that she was startled by Hope’s screaming on March 3 morning, when the girl ran out from her home. “She ran out of the house and came to my side. Mrs. Egbukole was still trying to flog her with a mop stick.”
The neighbour said she followed similar treatments by Mrs. Egbukole on Hope for the two years the girl lived with Egbukoles. She said at first she thought Hope was attacked with pepper or cold water as in the past.
“I thought it was just water and pepper, or something, until the girl screamed back again in my room and I shouted, ‘What!’ the br*ast has peeled already.
“So I shouted and said ‘Come you did this thing to this girl and you still want to flog her again? I will report you to the police and NAPTIP; at that point she started begging and immediately she started telling lies,” the neighbour said.
Kemi claimed Hope poured herself water, according to a neighbour. But the woman had a history of abusing the girl, the neighbour said, citing how Kemi, a day earlier, had hit Hope with a curtain rail, injuring her in the head.
Hope’s journey to Abuja
Mr. Oparah said the commission suspected Hope was trafficked to Abuja. He quoted Kemi as saying that the girl was handed to her by a pastor who usually supplied girls from Nasarawa State to Abuja residents seeking house helps.
“She said she does not know the girl’s parents,” Mr. Oparah said.
PT reached Kemi and her husband but they refused to speak about the matter. The police said the duo had been at the FCT police command for interrogation and would be required to return intermittently till the end of the investigation.
The Abuja police spokesperson, Manzah Adjuguri, said Kemi told the police that the pastor who allegedly brought Hope from Nasarawa was her uncle.
He said the police were yet to contact the girl’s parents. He however assured the matter will be charged to court after investigation.
“It is a matter of concern to the command based on the rate of injuries that has been sustained by the girl. And for us, here at the command, justice must take its full course,” he stated.
The police spokesperson said the command was in touch with Hope and following her recovery at NAPTIP’s shelter.
The spokesperson of NAPTIP, Joshua Emerole, said Hope would remain under the agency’s care until the end of the investigation. He added that Kemi will face other charges.
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