The police in Lagos State have arrested a woman, Funmi Otitoloju, for allegedly brutalising her 12-year-old niece identified only as Adeola, in the Baiyeku community of Ikorodu. Otitoloju allegedly used a razor blade to cut the girl in the neck and hand because she entered other people’s apartments without her permission.
The incident occurred on Thursday, June 9, 2016 at about 6am, after which a Good Samaritan rushed the victim to a general hospital. A neighour had reported to Otitoloju that the victim stole from her room.
When the neighbour was queried on what the 12-year-old stole, she could not answer. Otitoloju reportedly punished her niece after her landlady also came to report that the girl sneaked into her apartment. The girl was cut with a razor blade on that morning.
The hospital refused to treat Adeola insisting on a police report. A worker with the Child Protection Network in the Ikorodu area was said to have been invited and the worker reported the matter at the Ikorodu Police Division. The police, thereafter, arrested Otitoloju, while the victim was treated at the hospital.
Adeola, who is a primary 3 pupil, had been taken into government’s custody. The police on Monday arraigned Otitoloju on two counts bordering on child abuse at the Ikorodu Magistrates’ Court, Ikorodu.
The accused pleaded guilty to the charges. The razor blade was presented as an exhibit in court. The Magistrate, Mrs. A.A. Oshoniyi, sentenced Otitoloju to four years’ imprisonment with no option of fine.
