Precious Omenka,13,
was staying with her older half-sister Nneka and Nneka's mother Seki Eko in
Lekki, Lagos when she was brutally beaten, eventually leading to her death,
their father said.
Mr. Emeka Omenka, the father of the deceased, said he had
Nneka out of wedlock with Seki Eko. He later got married and his wife Ifeoma
raised Nneka as her own as she found it hard conceiving her first child.
Mr Emeka Omenka said
his older daughter Nneka asked that her younger sister Precious pays her a
visit. Precious went to Nneka’s house in Ikota, Lekki on October 12, but was
returned on October 16 looking weak with complaints of body pains. She informed
her parents that she had been beaten by Nneka and her mother Seki Eko for
wetting the bed.
Mr Omenka said
Precious gave details of how she was kicked in the stomach, chest and sides
several times. She added that she was beaten with a mop stick and a cable as
well.
Precious, a JSS 3
student, was taken to Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Ebute Metta where she died
on October 25 from complications resulting from the beating she allegedly
received from her half-sister Nneka and Nneka's mother.
According to The
Nation, Precious' death certificate revealed that the primary and secondary
causes of death were Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) and Cardiopulmonary Collapse.
Reacting to his daughter's death, Mr Omenka said: "I am
in pain. My heart is broken. Nneka is my first daughter. I had her out of
wedlock with one Seki Eko I was in a relationship with. Nneka was trained by my
wife Ifeoma who loved her like her own child.
"When I got married to my wife, it was difficult for
her to conceive and so she brought up Nneka like her own child. So, when she
came and said Precious should come to her place, we did not have any reason to
deny her request.
"Her husband lives in Dubai. She promised to send her
to a private school to appreciate my wife for taking care of her.
"Precious went
to her place on October 12. It was that weekend that it rained all through.
Then, on October 14, which was a Monday, it also rained and Precious said she
peed on the bed. That was her offence that made my daughter and her mother to
descend on her like that.
"When they finished, they brought her back and dumped
her at my place in Apapa Road, Ebute Metta. She was complaining of body pains
and narrated what happened to her at her sister’s place in tears. I could not
bear it and I wept as she was talking.
"My wife and I
bought painkillers that we gave her. My wife was also using hot water and cloth
to massage her body. We did not know that it was so bad. When we saw that she
was not getting better despite the painkillers, we decided to take her to FMC
because that’s where she was born.
"She was already
stooling on her body and her mother was cleaning it. So, at the hospital, she
was rushed to the emergency room after the doctors said she was short of blood.
They did so many tests and scans and discovered that she was bleeding
internally and that her bladder burst too.
"She was in the
hospital some days and was booked for emergency surgery. I was busy running
around to raise money to save my daughter’s life. I even borrowed from friends
and family members so that she could be saved but at last we lost her.
"Nneka did not tell me what happened to my daughter and
did not even come to the hospital until her relative from her mother’s side who
works at the FMC called her to rebuke her. That was when she came and spent
about N14,000 on my daughter’s drugs that day.
"I did not go to the police station then because I was
busy running around for my daughter to be alright. But after she passed on…my
kinsmen advised I report at the station.
I went to Denton Police Station and Iponri but they told me it did not happen
in their jurisdiction and that I should go to Lekki to report.
"I just sent a
message to her husband and told him what she did. My wife has been inconsolable
since then.
"I want justice for my daughter. I feel very
disappointed that this happened to my family. I want human rights to come and
government to investigate this case. Nneka is my daughter but Precious is also
my daughter and she did not deserve to die like that," he said.
The Nation reports
that Nneka told those around her that her younger sister died as a result of
ruptured appendicitis, adding that the girl was ill before she took her to her
house.
But the mother of the
deceased told the publication that she was still in shock over the incident and
denied insinuations that Precious might have been ill.
She said: "My
daughter was very healthy and even cooked for her younger ones that day before
following Nneka. Nneka and her mother should explain what happened to my
daughter. Nneka was brought to my house when she was 17 and we trained her in
the university. I never did any wrong to her and then, she chose to pay me back
this way?"
Meanwhile, a coalition of child advocates has volunteered to
take over the case and ensure justice.
Sources at the police
station said an order to exhume the teenager’s body would be sought so that
autopsy could be conducted.
Police spokesman Bala
Elkana confirmed the case was reported at Ajiwe Division in Ajah, adding that
the suspects have been arrested.
1 Comments
She need to be arrested
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