Where she was kept would stir emotion
even in a stone hearted being. What came
to the mind of many was why any parent
would banish their own child to such a
despicable solitary confinement.
The grubby dungeon, located in front of
her family apartment, was built with
carton board and roofing sheets
ostensibly to ward off the elements and
gave it the semblance of a dwelling place.
The less than four feet high structure
could be mistaken for cage for dog.
Sadly, this had been the abode of 16-
year-old Blessing Olokumo in the last two
and a half years.
Blessing, a twin, whose little frame
betrays her age, cuts the picture of
neglect and abandonment. Her parents
might have locked her up in the cage
which had no window to keep her away
from the public out of shame or wanted
her dead.
Blessing’s condition is pathetic. Unlike her
twin sister in senior secondary school
class 2, Blessing never had the
opportunity of seeing the four walls of a
school due to her health challenge with
the result that she could only
communicate in Isoko, her mother’s
native dialect.
Though the father is an indigene of
Ayibabiri community in Kolokuma-
Opokuma local government area of
Bayelsa State, the mother, Binaese, is
from Igbide in Isoko South local
government area of Delta.
Sunday Vanguard learnt that though
Blessing’s was born normal, her problem
started about 13 years ago when she was
aged three in Delta State.
She was said to have suffered from
convulsion, which was not properly taken
care of by her parents probably due to
ignorance. The father was then said to
have acted against doctor’s advice by
forcefully taking her away from the
hospital where she was receiving
treatment because he could not afford
the N15,000 medical bill.
The convulsion was said to have
worsened over time due to poor medical
attention leading to her abnormal
behaviour.
The ailment is also believed to be
responsible for her retarded growth
when compared to her twin sister, a
beautifully grown girl.
Although physically challenged kids like
her deserve decent life, love and adequate
medical attention, in her case she was
treated cruelly; locked up in a cage
lacking window for proper ventilation and
light.
The place where she was confined for
almost three years by her father shares
fence with a medical facility where she is
now receiving treatment.
Co-tenants, who could have notified the
authorities on the girl’s plight, looked the
way ostensibly for fear of incurring the
wrath of her father whose relation,
Sunday Vanguard learnt, owned the
house they are living in.
Succour however came her way last
weekend when a concerned native of
Okolobiri alerted the group, the Mary
Slessor Twin Foundation, which rescued
her and took her to the Niger Delta
University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri
where she is receiving treatment.
When this reporter, on Thursday, visited
what once served as her home, it was
discovered that a rubber carpet had been
laid on the bare floor with a view to
making it look a little decent due to the
public interest generated after her
predicament was reported.
A resident berated the girl’s parents. “This
is the height of man’s inhumanity to man,
especially coming from one’s own father.
The girl though is retarded doesn’t
deserve the treatment meted to her.
Before now, she used to walk freely
around from her parents apartment to
her mother’s kiosk by the roadside
without disturbing anybody,” the resident
said.
The girl, on admission at the teaching
hospital courtesy of Mary Slessor Twins
Foundation, cut the picture of a six-year-
old. Her confinement and lack of care
apparently left her malnourished, as
according to the doctor handling her
case, “she is 16 year old but her weight is
like that of a five year old.”
Acting President of the Foundation, Mr.
Tonyon Ebitei Robert, said she was
locked up because she was defecating
around the family house.
According to him, Blessing’s father, who is
also a twin and a security official with the
Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital,
Okolobiri, allegedly built the cage and
locked up his daughter to keep her away
from the main house.
“She was kept like a rabbit. She was given
food when it was available and was
allowed to sleep in her vomit, faeces,
urine. She lost weight and could have
died,” Robert said.
He explained that the group, known for
its campaign against maltreatment of
twins, was contacted by concerned
indigenes of Okolobiri community where
the Olokumo family resides.
Blessing, he said, was rushed to the
teaching hospital where she is being
given medical treatment.
Though the father was not around when
Sunday Vanguard visited as he was said
to have gone to Yenagoa for a
verification exercise, the mother of the
girl was sighted at the hospital keeping
her company. The woman, who identified
herself as Binaese, said the girl was
locked up because she was roaming
about and disturbing other neighbours, a
claim that was dismissed by a resident
who said the girl though has health
challenges hardly disturbed anybody.
Dr. Deji, who was attending to the girl
when Sunday Vanguard visited her, said:
“We gathered that when she was three
years, she started having convulsion and
the convulsion worsened over time and
due to the poor control of the convulsion
she started having abnormal behaviour.
“About three years ago, the father
decided to keep her in an enclosure
outside the house and, over time, she
degenerated. She wasn’t well kept and
her weight wasted. She is 16 years but
her weight is like that of a five-year-old
child.”
According to him, the girl is a bit reserved
most likely as a result of the trauma she
may have undergone. The doctor went on:
“There are signs of obvious neglect over
time. It is the case of a child having
seizure disorder which some people
might call epilepsy, and was not treated
appropriately. She was not given
adequate medical attention and kept out
of the house in a restricted environment
and barely fed which resulted in
malnutrition.
“She is responding gradually to treatment
and is a bit more interested in her
environment. When I first saw her, she
refused my coming close to her but she
now obeys instructions.” President of the
Mary Slessor Twins Foundation, Robert,
gave kudos to the medical personnel
handling her case saying she has
improved tremendously. According to
him, the group would lodge formal
complaint with the police and the welfare
department of Bayelsa State Ministry of
Women Affairs.
“Criminal charges of child abduction,
inhuman treatment, child molestation and
failure to enroll the child for proper
education will be brought against the
parents,” he said.
Also, the Chief Nengi James Foundation,
on Thursday, visited the girl in hospital
and made a cash donation to assist the
Mary Slessor Twins Foundation pay
Blessing’s medical bills.
Represented by the immediate past
Secretary of the state chapter of the Civil
Liberties Organisation (CLO), Comrade
Alagoa Morris, the Chief Nengi James
Foundation urged parents to cater for
their kids no matter the circumstances.
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