Trader scalds 12-year-old with hot water, over N100

Chinwe Abasi, 39, a mother-of-two, brutalized Chinedu Okorie, 12, with hot water in the Apapa area of Lagos, because he collected N100 from a neighbor to buy a pair of socks to wear to school without
her knowledge.

Okorie, JSS 1, worked as a sales assistant for Abasi, who sells cloth materials in the Oyingbo Market. Last Monday when schools resumed, Okorie, who was brought to Lagos 5 years ago, told Abasi that he would need to buy a pair of socks for school, but she ignored him.

On Thursday, he collected the money from a neighbor, Usman, but when Abasi learnt about it, she became angry and beat him up. Okorie was said to have ran to the kitchen during the flogging and Abasi allegedly grabbed an electric kettle of boiling water and emptied it on him.

Abasi was later arrested by officers from the FESTAC Police Division and the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team has given Okorie a temporary shelter, where he also received medical attention.

Abasi however said that she treats Okorie like her son. And that she had promised to give him the money but she forgot, adding that she eventually gave him the money on Thursday, only for Okorie to use it for something else, and that got her angry.

She noted that the hot water was poured by mistake. She alleged that: “There were times when I gave him N1,000 to go and buy fuel. He would spend 3 hours and later say he misplaced the money. So, I disciplined him on Thursday.”

Credit: Punchng