How Pregnant Woman Beats Her Underage Help to Death in Lagos

A woman identified only as Oby, has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly beating her underage help, Miracle, to death.

PUNCH learnt that the mother of two, who works as a beautician in Lagos, had descended on the eight-year-old on Saturday and beaten her till she collapsed. Oby had begun making plans with some people to dispose of the girl’s body when her neighbors raised alarm and involved the police. She was then detained at the Isolo Police Division.

A resident of the area, who claimed anonymity, said that Oby was always beating the little girl up, and whenever she was confronted she would insult and shun her neighbors.

“She is a beautician who has two children and is heavily pregnant with her third child. Her husband was deported from Libya before he travelled again to Angola, where he is now based. She brought the victim and another girl named Chinacherem from their village in Anambra State some years ago. They were formerly going to school before she stopped them. However, anytime I visit their house, she was always beating this particular girl. Whenever people intervened, she would tell them to go away because she brought the girl from the village and it was none of their business. She usually maltreated the two girls and would wake them up as early as 4.30am to start working. She beat them at the least provocation. Early Saturday, she descended on Miracle again and beat her till she gave up. She called some people to help her dispose her corpse. They were about taking the body out when people challenged them. The people she brought quickly ran away.”

Correspondents also learnt that the case had been reported to officials of the Lagos State Office of the Public Defender. An official of the agency, who also claimed anonymity, said that 12-year-old Chinacherem had been taken away from the community by family members who didn’t want her to testify against the suspect.

“We gathered that Oby told Chinacherem that when she is queried, she should tell people that she (Chinacherem) and the victim fought and she collapsed and died. After the girl told the crowd that, she quickly added that it was what her madam asked her to say. But the woman has confessed to the police that she killed the girl. When we went to the station, we were prevented from talking to her, but they confirmed it was a case of homicide. The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba.”

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The Director of OPD,  Olubukola Salami, called for an end to child abuse in Lagos State, urging residents to quickly report such cases before it was too late. She advised that people should say something if they see anything suspicious and not wait before it was too late to save a child’s life.