An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court sitting in Ogba, Lagos State, has ordered
the remand of a 24-year-old woman, Onyinye Mbadike, in prison for
locking up her 10-year-old cousin, Chibike in a kennel.
She was arraigned on two counts bordering on assault on Friday before Magistrate B. O. Osunsanmi
Chibike, an orphan from Anambra State was said to have been living with the suspect since 2012 when his parents died.
His
ordeal was in the limelight recently when a viral video revealed how
Mbadike locked him up in a dog cage after beating him for allegedly
taking an alcoholic drink she kept in a refrigerator.
The woman
also alleged that the boy misbehaved and smashed the side mirror of her
Toyota Camry car with a stone, which made her detain him in the kennel.
The video, which was secretly done by a neighbour, attracted the public rage as people called for the arrest of the woman.
Officials
of the Gender Unit of the Lagos State Police Command eventually tracked
down Mbadike at her residence on Trimnell Street, Aguda, Surulere on
Wednesday.
The command’s spokesperson, DSP Bala Elkana, had in a
statement on Thursday stated that the boy was rescued and taken to a
protective custody, adding that the suspect admitted she was the one in
the viral video flogging the child with a belt.
The Commissioner
of Police, Lagos State, Zubairu Muazu, had 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.
The Domestic
and Sexual Response Team, 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 the
Chumpe Liquor Store, Surulere, and her residence in Aguda. The boy was
rescued and taken to a secure shelter.
The suspect admitted that
she was the one in the viral video flogging the child with a belt, but
she denied locking him in a cage with dogs. She said she only locked him
in an empty kennel, where bags were being kept,” Elkana had stated.
The police on Friday brought Mbadike before the court on two counts of assault and her plea was not taken.
The
charge read in part, “That you, Onyinye Mbadike, of Trimnell Street,
Aguda, Surulere, Lagos, in the Ikeja Magisterial District, did assault
one Chibike, 10 years old, thereby committing an offence punishable
under Section 172 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.
That you,
Onyinye Mbadike, did put one Chibike, 10 years old, in a kennel in order
to choke or suffocate him, thereby committing an offence punishable
under Section 239 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.
The
presiding magistrate, Osunsanmi, ordered that the defendant be remanded
in prison custody, adding that the case file be sent to the Directorate
of Public Prosecution for legal advice.
The case was adjourned till October 9, 2019 for mention.
{Naijafinix.com}
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