A beautician, identified only as Oby, has been arrested by the Lagos
State Police Command for allegedly beating her maid, Miracle, to death
on Lateef Aregbe Street, Ago Palace Way, Okota, in the Isolo area of the
state.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the mother of two had descended on the
eight-year-old on Saturday and beaten her till she collapsed and gave up
the ghost.
She was allegedly plotting with some persons to dispose of the corpse
when some neighbours raised the alarm and reported the case to the
police.
The suspect was subsequently detained at the Isolo Police Division.
A resident of the area, who did not want to be identified, said the suspect had been beating Miracle for months.
He explained that anytime Oby, who hailed from Anambra State, was confronted by neighbours, she would shun and insult them.
He said, “She is a beautician and has two children and she is heavily
pregnant with her third child. Her husband was deported from Libya
before he travelled again to Angola, where he is now based.
“She
brought the victim and another girl by name Chinacherem, from their
village in Anambra State some years ago. They were formerly going to
school before she stopped them.
“However, anytime I visit their
house, she was always beating this particular girl. Whenever people
intervened, she would tell them to go away because she brought the girl
from the village and it was none of their business.
“She usually
maltreated the two girls and would wake them up as early as 4.30am to
start working. She beat them for the least provocation.
“Early
Saturday, she descended on Miracle again and beat her till she gave up.
She called some people to help her in disposing of her corpse. They were
about taking the body out when people challenged them. The people she
brought quickly ran away.”
PUNCH Metro was told that the case was also reported to officials of the Lagos State Office of the Public Defender.
An official of the agency, who did not want to be identified, said
12-year-old Chinacherem had been taken away from the community by some
family members who didn’t want her to testify against the suspect.