From
Vanguard
Policemen at Bode Thomas division of Lagos State command, Tuesday,
arrested a woman who allegedly set her 11-year-old house maid ablaze in
Surulere area of Lagos, for stealing a piece of meat from her pot of
soup.
The maid identified as Ita Bassey-Eno who reportedly
escaped death by the whiskers, is currently at the Burns and Trauma
Centre of the Gbadaga General Hospital, with doctors battling to save
her life.
Although her mistress, a staff nurse at an undisclosed
hospital in Surulere, Mrs Nkese Iroakazi, reportedly denied the
allegation at the police station, the ailing girl was said to have
managed to state that she allegedly poured kerosene on her before
striking a stick of matches to set her on fire.
The incident, as gathered, occurred last
Saturday at 7, Adeniran Ogunsanya Street, after Ita rushed out of the
apartment with fire on her, apparently in an attempt to plunge into a
gutter. Unfortunately, she reportedly fell before she could get to the
gutter.
One of the residents was said to have succeeded in
putting out the fire with the aid of a fire extinguisher, before she was
rushed to the hospital.
Eyewitness account
A resident
who simply identified herself as Morakinyo told Vanguard: “I was just
alighting from the bus when I saw people gathered in front of the
building. When I got there, I saw Ita whom we all call Eno on the floor.
Then, the flame had been put out.
“Two men who attempted to
carry her into a car could not because the skin at that time had peeled
off. They had to get a slab, placed her on it and rushed her to the
hospital. From what I gathered, the girl has spent barely one month in
Lagos before the incident.
“She was brought from her village in
Akwa Ibom State last month alongside another girl called Happiness.
Since then, we have not seen either of them going to school.
“We
heard that while Happiness was in the sitting room, there was a cry from
Ita in the kitchen and before she (Happiness) knew what was happening,
Ita rushed out of the kitchen and straight to the road shouting for
help.
“How could someone who has children of her own treat
another’s like this? It was even the residents that alerted policemen
who came to pick Mrs Iroakazi.”
When Vanguard visited the
hospital, Tuesday, a doctor who spoke on condition of anonymity
expressed fear about the victim’s condition, revealing that she
suffered 95 per cent burns.
“It will take a miracle for her to
survive. In any case, we are trying all we can to ensure she gets back
on her feet. That will entail some surgeries because her private part
was badly damaged.
“Currently, she wears pampers and that area needs immediate surgery after the injuries would have healed.”
Ita
was sighted with bandage all over her body, except her face and feet.
When a nurse approached her to administer the day’s treatment, she
groaned in pains.
As at 3 p.m yesterday, police sources told
Vanguard that the suspect would be transferred to the state Criminal
Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba for further investigation.
