Emmanuel Thomas, Lagos
July 29, 2015 – A 70 year old woman may as well be on his way to jail in Lagos following allegations that she robbed hot grounded pepper into the penis of a 12 year old boy in Badagry, a suburb of Lagos.
For this offence, the Lagos State Government today vowed that it will prosecute her for abusing the child for allegedly stealing her money.
The government also vowed to prosecute another woman who engaged in begging for alms with two children she brought from the village to assist her in trading.
The children were brought to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, WAPA, after they have been rescued in Badagry, Ajamgbadi and Maza-Maza areas of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria by government officials and the police on Tuesday.
Permanent Secretary, WAPA, Omobolanle Ogunmola said the ministry acted on a text message that a 12-year old child (names withheld) was being abused by the said woman.
“Our team went to Badagry to rescue the boy who attends Ansarudeen Secondary School. From the information gotten from the school, the woman is around 70 years with a husband of over 75 years, so we cound not arrest them, but that does not mean we are not going to prosecute them. We are going to prosecute them. We will take custody of the boy and take him to school in one of our transient homes,” she said.
Ogunmola said the state government had declared zero tolerance on child abuse and domestic violence, saying that government would not hesitate to prosecute people found to have violated the rights of children in the state.
She said government will also prosecute the woman who is using children to beg for alms. She said government is dealing with several cases of child abuse at various Family Courts in the state, with some of the culprits being jailed.
“As we arrest culprits, we hand them over to the police for prosecution.”
However, the 12 year old boy confirmed that the 70-year old woman applied pepper on his private part for stealing money, saying that since his mother left him, he has been staying with his relation who happened to be the aged woman.
The young boy admitted stealing money but refused to disclose the total sum stolen. He however identified the aged woman simply as Mrs Amosun.
One of the girls being engaged in begging (name withheld) said the woman, identified as Amaka told her parents in Abia State that she wanted to engage them in selling provision in Lagos, noting that on getting to Lagos, she was turned into a beggar and paid N100 every month.
The girl, 19, who was discovered to be pregnant, said one of the boys in the neighbourhood got her pregnant, saying that she detested begging which she normally did at Alaba Market in Ajamgbadi.
