A six-year-old girl has been hospitalised after her father, Taiwo Onabanjo, and stepmother, Abimbola, allegedly tortured her with nails at their residence in Ijagba, in the Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State.
It was gathered that a concerned neighbour alerted a non-governmental organisation, Olanrewaju Omo-George Foundation, whose representative informed the Sagamu Police Division, which mobilised personnel to arrest the stepmother.
The counsellor of the foundation, Wemimo Adebiyi, claimed that “nail was drilled in her head. Her body has marks of beating and lacerations.”
The foundation’s supervisor, Christopher Onuegbu, said the police also arrested the victim’s father, adding that both Taiwo and Abimbola had been detained.
While noting that the victim had been taken to hospital for treatment, Onuegbu added that efforts were on to locate her biological mother.
He said, “We received a distress call that a stepmother had been torturing a child with nails. The stepmother used the nails to inflict injuries on her head and body, and we asked for the location and the person said it was in Ijagba, Sagamu. I informed our secretary to report the incident at the Sagamu Police Station, where two policewomen accompanied our secretary to the address and arrested the stepmother.
“During the arrest, the neighbours came out and testified that the woman had been maltreating the child. A call was made to the husband and when he came, he supported his wife and the Divisional Police Officer arrested him. The child has been running a temperature because she was brutalised from head to toe; we took her to the Skylack Medical Hospital, where she is receiving treatment.
“We are trying to locate the biological mother of the child, who is said to be in Ijebu-Igbo. Our foundation has decided to settle the victim’s medical bills and sponsor her education until she graduates from higher institution.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, confirmed Abimbola’s arrest, but said her husband had been released.
He said “The suspect has been arrested and currently undergoing interrogation at the Sagamu Divisional Police headquarters, while the victim has been taken to hospital for medical attention.
“The Commissioner of Police, Edwards Ajogun, has ordered that the suspect be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded.”
