A Lagos based trader, Chinwe Obasi, has been arrested by the police from the FESTAC Division for allegedly brutalising her houseboy, a 12-year-old boy named Chinedu Okorie, with hot water, scarring his face and chest in the process, the Punch reports.
According to the report, the Junior Secondary School 1 (JSS1), student, had asked the 39-year-old mother of two to give him some money to buy a pair of socks to for the new school year, but the Nnewi, Anambra State born woman refused, prompting the boy to ask a neighbour identified as Usman, for the money.
When Obasi who lives in the Apapa area but sells cloth materials at the Oyingbo Market, got to know that another person had given the money to Okorie, she got mad at him and descended on him.
While Obasi was beating Okorie, he was said to have ran to the kitchen where the woman pursued him and grabbed an electric kettle of boiling water and emptied it on the boy.
It was learnt that the matter was also reported to the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, and a temporary shelter was provided for the boy, where he also received medical attention.
The Enugu State born Okorie narrated his plight thus:
“I told my madam last Monday that I needed to buy a pair of socks for school because my teachers would seize my sandals without it. But she did not buy them, and I went to collect money from our neighbour.
When she saw the pair of socks, she became angry and started to beat me. I ran into the kitchen. That was where she grabbed the electric kettle and poured the hot water on me. It was around 7pm on Thursday.”
But in her defense, Obasi said she did not deliberately brutalise the boy, adding that everyone knew she treated Okorie like her son.
“On Monday, pupils resumed school, and Chinedu told me he needed a pair of socks and I said I would buy them for him. Unfortunately, when I came back, I forgot. Later, our neighbour said Chinedu collected N100 from him to buy the pair of socks. I was angry.
I queried him and warned him against the behaviour. On Thursday, I gave him N100 to buy another pair of socks. When he came back, he told me he used the money for something else. So, I beat him up.
There were times when I gave him N1,000 to go and buy fuel. He would spend three hours and later say he misplaced the money. So, I disciplined him on Thursday.
He ran into the kitchen, and that was when I mistakenly poured the water on him. I sell clothes at the Oyingbo Market. He is my domestic help. I brought him from his village in Enugu State about four years ago. The boy is stubborn. I am not a bad woman.”
The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the arrest of Obasi, saying that the suspect would be charged to court soon.
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