Wickedness:Woman brutalises, hides 13-year-old maid from police

Firstclass newsline learnt that the police in Lagos have arrested a
woman, Esther Bello, for allegedly brutalising her 13-year-old
househelp, identified simply as Titi, in the Obanikoro area of Lagos.
Firstclass newsline learnt that Bello, a trader, allegedly hid the
girl in a room and told policemen from the Pedro division, who were
alerted by the neighbours, that the maid had travelled to Ikorodu area
with a friend.
However, a source who got to the area at about 10am, observed how
Titi, who had a bleeding hand, was rescued by policemen from the room
where she had been locked up.
Firstclass newsline learnt that on Thursday at about 1am, the maid,
who was said to be from Cotonou, Benin Repubic, ran out of the house
on Akinsanmi Street, Obanikoro Estate, with a bleeding hand to meet
neighbours and explain her plight.
Firstclass newsline learnt that the neighbours, who later saw Bello,
inquired why she allegedly cut her maid with a broken dish. Bello was
said to have shunned the neighbours, after which the girl returned to
the house.
Firstclass newsline learnt that at about 7am, the neighbours went back
to the house to check on Titi only to discover that the maid's injury
had not been treated, and had been given more domestic works to do.
The angry neighbours were said to have reported the matter at the
Pedro Police Division, which then came to Bello's house.
Bello was said to have told the officers that the maid was no longer
with her, and had gone with a friend to Igbogbo area, Ikorodu.
However, after the police returned with a search warrant, they combed
the house before the maid was found bleeding in one of the rooms in
the house.
Bello was thereafter arrested, while the maid was rushed to a hospital
for treatment.
Speaking with a source, one of the neighbours, who gave his name as
Titus Edgar, said, "We did not sleep early on Wednesday; we were still
outside in a bar in the area till 2am. At about 1.30am, we saw the
maid run out of the house, while blood was streaming from her hand.
"We observed that the hand was cut deep in three places, and the girl
told us that her boss had threatened to kill her if she raised the
alarm. When the woman came later, we asked her what was the matter,
but she refused to say anything.
"By morning, some of us went back to the house to check what had
become of the girl. When we got to the house, the girl was still
bleeding and mopping the floor.
"We felt this was unfair and that was when we went to report to the
police. When the police arrived, she told them that the girl had run
out and was in Ikorodu.
"That was when we began to comb her house before discovering the maid."
Another neighbour, who did not want her name in print, said Bello, who
had been in the area for three years, had a housemaid named Maria, who
also fled the house last year.
Firstclass newsline learnt that some officials of the Lagos State
Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team had gone to the police
station, and taken up the welfare of the girl
Firstclassnewsline.net