A woman identified as Kemi Egbukole, 36, faces criminal charges for pouring boiling water on her 16-year-old house help, Hope David, for waking late. The Police said Egbukole would be charged after investigations are concluded.
The mother-of-two is being investigated for child abuse and trafficking offences by the Police, National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, and National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP.
Neighbours at their Minta 1 Estate, Lokogoma, Abuja, resident, said Egbukole had been a notorious child abuser, who repeatedly attacked Hope with dangerous objects including rods.
The Deputy Director, Protection and Investigations, NHRC, Mr. Oparah, said the commission suspected Hope was trafficked to Abuja. He quoted Egbukole as saying that the girl was handed to her by a pastor who usually supplied girls from Nasarawa State to Abuja residents seeking house helps.
The spokesperson of NAPTIP, Joshua Emerole, said Hope would remain under the agency’s care until the end of the investigation. According to Emerole, Egbukole will face other charges including the violation of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, 2015.