A
group, Mary Slessor Twins Foundation, Wednesday rescued a 16- year-old girl,
Miss Blessing Olokumo, locked in a wooden cage for over two and half years by
her parents, over her alleged strange ailment, which they attributed to
witchcraft.
Blessing, who is a twin,
according to the preliminary investigations conducted by the group, was
diagnosed with a strange illness over nine years ago. The ailment always
triggered convulsion. The illness, according to the acting President of the
group, Tonyon Ebitei Robert, led to the isolation of the girl by her parents,
because she was always “soiling the house.” The father of the caged child, who
is a also a twin and a security guard at the Niger Delta University Teaching
Hospital in Okolobiri, allegedly built the cage and locked up his daughter to
keep her away from the main house. “She was kept like a rabbit. She was
given food when it was available and was allowed to sleep in her vomit, faeces
and urine. She had lost weight and could have died”. The father was said to be
an indigene of the Ayibatari Community in Kolokuma / Opokuma Local Council of
the state.
Ebeitie Roberts told reporters
that the group, which is known for its campaign against maltreatment of twins
in the state, was contacted by concerned indigenes of Okolobiri community where
the Olokumo family resides. It was also gathered that the first trip of the
members of the group to the Okolobiri community nearly ended in tragedy with
some strange occurrences and refusal of the father to let them see the caged
child, “but during the next trip, he handed the child to us.” The child has
been taken to the Teaching Hospital for proper medical treatment on the bill of
the Mary Slessor Twins Foundation.
Attempts to speak with the girl’s
parents failed. But some indigenes of the community condemned the act,
describing it as callous and wicked. Ebitei Robert told newsmen that the group
would lodge a formal complaint with the state headquarters of the Nigeria
Police and the Welfare Department of the State Ministry of Women Affairs,
“criminal child abduction, inhuman treatment, child molestation and failure to
enroll the child for proper education would be brought against her parents.
Guardian - 22/01/2014
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