Matilda Omonaiye/
Detectives from the Gender Unit in Lagos have tracked down a woman seen in a viral video locking a child in a kennel.
According to the police, the 24-year-old woman identified as Onyinye Mbadike is the guardian of the boy named as Chibike Eziamaka.
Mrs Mbadike was arrested yesterday at her 7, Trimnell Street home, in Aguda area of Surulere, Lagos.
She told the police that she gave Chibike the dog’s treatment because he stole liquor from the refrigerator, got drunk and smashed the mirror of her Toyota Camry.
NewsmakersNG learnt that the police are charging her for assault and child abuse.
In a statement issued today, Lagos State police spokesman, DSP Bala Elkana says the woman was arrested following a petition from the Domestic and Sexual Response Team (DSVRT), Alausa, Ikeja after the video went viral.
The statement reads in part: “The video also showed the suspect locking the boy up in a dog’s kennel, sharing space with dogs. The video was widely condemned by well-meaning Nigerians. The Commissioner of Police Lagos State, CP Zubairu Muazu mni ordered the Gender Unit of the Command to identify the woman in the video, rescue the child and make the suspect face the full weight of the law. Domestic and Sexual Response Team (DSVRT), Alausa Ikeja also added its voice to the call for investigation with a petition addressed to the Commissioner of Police to that effect.
“The Gender Unit traced the suspect to Chumpe Liquor Store, Surulere, and her residence at Aguda. The 10-year-old boy was rescued and taken to a secured shelter. The suspect admitted that she is the one on the viral video flogging the child with a belt, but she denied locking the survivor in a cage with dogs. She said that she only locked him in an empty dog kennel where bags are kept. She claimed to have locked up the boy for a few hours before bringing him out. She alleged that the boy took a hot drink in their refrigerator and was misbehaving; that the suspect smashed the side mirror of her Toyota Camry with stone which made her detain him in the dog kennel.
“Investigation revealed that the survivor lost his parents and was brought to Lagos in 2012 from Anambra State by the mother of the suspect along with his two siblings. The suspect and the survivor are cousins. The suspect’s mother is the elder sister of the survivor’s father. The suspect will be charged to Court. The Command reiterated its commitment towards protecting the rights of children and other vulnerable members of the society from all forms of violence and abuses.”
0