The mere sight of these two children in front of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, Ire-Akari Estate, Isolo area of Lagos, that Sunday, evoked a great feeling of pity in most passers-by, following what looked like incurable sores spreading from their buttocks down their thighs.
The children, later discovered to be of ages five and 10, respectively, were lying on a mat that was spread on the ground, with the presumed injury dripping out blood and fluid. They stared earnestly and expectantly at the crowd of worshippers that trooped in and out of the church.
Out of pity, most of them dropped some naira notes of different denominations inside an available black nylon bag in front of the children, with some of the givers shaking their heads in pity. A woman who was rushing to the first mass almost burst into tears when she sighted the children.
Muttering words of sympathy, she dipped into her purse, brought out a N500 note, dropped it into the black nylon bag and made a sign of the cross before walking briskly into the church.
But there was soon to be a mild drama which changed the course of the day for the children. A female worshipper approached a lady standing by one of the girls, who later gave her name as Loveth to find out what was wrong with the girls.
Without mincing words, Loveth told the worshipper that it was an injury they sustained when their younger sister mistakenly pushed them inside a boiling water. The worshipper out of pity offered to take them to a nearby hospital. It was at this point the lady denied being the mother of the children.
This heightened the worshipper’s suspicion and she demanded to know more about the travail of the children. Loveth apparently out of fear of being exposed at the hospital opened up and quietly told the worshipper that the whole thing was a ploy to wheedle money off passers-by.
At this point, the real mother of the children surfaced. She, however, gave her name as Mrs Blessing. The story took another twist when the worshipper who just came out from the second mass, walked up to the woman and asked, if she knew her.
Alas! The bubble burst, as it was discovered that the woman had long been using such deceptive scheme to solicit money from members of the public.
Not too long, a crowd had gathered round the woman and her children. To the astonishment of all, it was discovered that the children earlier assumed to have been afflicted with an unknown disease were after all hale and hearty.
On closer observation, it was discovered that a substance suspected to be gum was rubbed on parts of the children’s buttocks down to their knees, with some Gentian Violet, popularly known as G.V. To make the wound look real and convincing, a mixture of cow blood and vaseline was also liberally smeared to create the appreance of a fresh wound.
The worshipper who simply gave her name as Eunice, told Vanguard Metro, VM that her society, the St Vincent de Paul, a group known for charity work in the Catholic Church had in 2006, at St Brigids’ Catholic Church, Ijesha area of Lagos rendered monetary assistance as well as given food items and clothes to Blessing who claimed to come from Orlu in Imo State and married to a man who hails from Anambra State.
Eunice explained that her Parish then had picked interest in the woman who, she said, usually begged with her assumed ailing children and gave her some money and even referred her to their Oyingbo branch for further assistance.
According to Eunice: “When I saw her in front of the church on Sunday, her face looked familiar and I went to meet her, asking if she still recognised me because I was among those who attended to her in 2006. She said she recognised me. That was when I knew she could be up to something and I alerted other church members”.
Looking remorseful and in an emotion-laden voice, the woman who claimed to be the mother of the two children admitted having received the monetary assistance but claimed never to have gone for further assistance at Oyingbo.
On what prompted her into using the poor innocent children to beg, she explained amidst tears: “My daughter here(pointing to the elder child) is 10 years old and she just got admission into one of the government secondary schools, after passing her common entrance examination and she is to resume tomorrow (Monday). But we could not raise money for her uniform, books and other necessary things which amounted to about N3000.
“Rather than going to steal, I decided to rub the substance on them to at least attract sympathy from people so as to realise the needed amount”.
Asked about her husband, she told VM that: “My husband is a truck pusher at Onyigbo market. But as at this moment, he is just recuperating from a surgery he had and as such could not afford the money”.
But when confronted with the worshipper’s claim that she had employed a similar deceptive method to beg five years ago, she kept mute before saying she did what she had to do to get money for her child’s school fees. “I sell ugu(pumpkin vegetable) at Oyingbo and that is what my family feeds on. I swear , I use this means to feed them because I do no want to steal”.
It was further discovered that a young nursing mother had been keeping watch over the assumed ailing children before their arrest. The young mother who gave her name as Loveth Igwe covered her face in shame on sighting the crowd.
Cuddling her five-month-old baby to her bosom, she blamed her misdemeanour on the father of her baby saying: “I have never done this before. She (Blessing) spoke to me to join them today in order to get some money for my baby’s pap. I decided to join her out of poverty. I was impregnated by a man who abandoned me last year.
And in April this year, I gave birth to this child. I have been managing to take care of this child when Aunty Blessing sold this idea of staying with her children any time she took them out to beg. She said when anyone sees me with my baby they too would be moved to give me money too. That was how I joined them”.
Just then someone among the crowd suggested they be taken to Isolo Police Division.
At this point the angry mob became more aggressive and started beating the two women. And as if she could not withstand the shame any longer, Blessing started rolling on the ground and removed all her clothings. She further lied that she was pregnant, presumably to stop the mob from beating her.
But to get to the root of the matter, a medical doctor in the crowd volunteered to carry out a pregnancy test on her. Immediately. A pregnancy kit was brought to the scene and it was revealed that Blessing was not pregnant after all.
Few minutes later, some members of the church took the children, including the women to the office of the Reverend Father who now directed that they should be taken to the police station in the area. Some of the women pressured the younger woman Loveth, who, VM gathered, was only 24 years old, to cover the baby who was stark naked under the scorching sun. The doctor also gave them N4000.00 to buy food for the small baby and to have her cleaned up.
Blessing was later persuaded to clean the four year-old girls’s buttocks with tissue which revealed a smooth skin without any trace of injury. At this point, some of the members of the Church followed them down to the police station, insisting on seeing the matter to its logical conclusion. Majority of them vowed never to render monetary assistance to any beggar, no matter the authenticity of their plight.
It was further gathered that the girls were not the original children she used in 2006. Asked what happened to the children, Blessing confessed that one of the children, a boy died a year ago and the older girl is about 12 years now and cannot be used any longer.
However, although Blessing was blamed for using her children for such an abusive manner, critical observers are of the view that government should on its part endeavour to create.
By Chioma Obinna & Evelyn Usman
No comments:
Post a Comment