By Izunna Okafor, Awka
A woman, identified as Adaobi Agbonta, has been arrested in Ogidi in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, by the police after allegedly subjecting her 10-year-old female house help, Chizoba Ifeanyi, to hours of brutal beating, leaving the little girl with severe injuries on different parts of her body.
The victim, who reportedly hails from Enugu State, was rescued following the intervention of some residents and passersby who heard her cries and rushed to the scene after she had allegedly been crying for about some hours from the woman’s apartment.
The incident was brought to public attention on Thursday after a social media user, Iyke Orji, raised the alarm in a post accompanied by a video from the scene showing the woman allegedly beating the little girl and attempting to forcefully bundle her back into the house as people intervened to rescue her.
In the video, the woman was seen wielding a stick reportedly fitted with nails and using it to assault the child, while the little girl struggled and cried out for help.
The footage also showed visible injuries on different parts of the victim’s body, including bloodstains around her eyes and swollen areas on her head, reportedly resulting from the beating.
Orji, who shared the video, said the people who intervened had to struggle with the woman before they could successfully rescue the girl and take her to a nearby pharmacy for medical attention.
When questioned by those who rescued her, the little girl reportedly explained that the woman was not her biological mother but a friend of her brother.
She further disclosed that the woman had asked her to clean the house and that while she was carrying out the instruction, the woman suddenly came and started beating her.
The woman, who appeared visibly angry in the video, was also seen shouting at the people who intervened, scolding and threatening them while also insisting that she would deal with the little girl when she returned inside.
In a subsequent update later on Thursday, Orji disclosed that he personally took the victim to a hospital for treatment and paid her medical bills.
He further revealed that the Deputy Mayor of Idemili North subsequently deployed the Chief Security Officer to accompany the team to the woman’s residence, but on getting there, they discovered that she had received information about their movement and ran away.
According to Orji, the team later devised a means of getting the woman to willingly come to the Idemili North Local Government Secretariat, where she was eventually arrested by the police.
He also disclosed that the Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Chinyere Onyekesi, intervened in the matter, following which the rescued girl was taken into the custody of the Anambra State Government for protection and further necessary attention.
Orji expressed appreciation to the Commissioner for Women Affairs and other individuals who intervened in securing the girl’s rescue, particularly the immediate-past Mayor of Idemili North Local Government Area, Iyom Amaka Obi; the Leader of the Idemili South Legislature, Rt. Hon. Mbadugha Valentine; and Daniel Arinzechukwu Ezeigwe, among others.
