Precious Edu, has accused
the brother-in law of her
employer of pouring hot
water on her.
Edu, who said she was
denied the opportunity of
attending school after she
was brought to work with
Esther Amunde and her
brother-in-law, Papa, in
Calabar, Cross River State,
said Papa poured the
water on her after
accusing her of splashing
water on him.
She said after the hot
water left some burns on
her neck, shoulder and
chest, she was left to wallow
in pains for two days until
neighbours took her to the
hospital for medical
attention.
Narrating her ordeal on Saturday
on her sick bed, Edu, who is
currently being treated at
the Calabar General
Hospital, said she was
brought to Ekorinim area
of the state from Obudu in
the northern part of the
state to work as housemaid
on the agreement that she
would continue her
secondary education.
But the situation changed
as she was allegedly denied
schooling by Amunde, who
insisted that Edu must not
be distracted from taking
care of her little son.
Edu said, "Sometime in
2012, one woman, Amaman
appealed to my mother to
release me as a housemaid
to her sister, Esther
Amunde, residing in
Calabar because she needed
somebody to stay with her.
"When my mother accepted,
it was with the
understanding that I
would continue my
schooling. I initially
stayed with Amunde's
mother in Obudu for
three months before
Amunde came during
Obudu new yam festival in
August 2012 to take me to
Calabar."
Edu said on getting to
Calabar, she worked full
time as housemaid until
September when she
expected that she would
resume school with other
children.
She said she reminded
Amunde to register her in
a school in Ekorinim, but
she turned down the
request, saying her work
was to take care of her
son."
Edu said, "Amunde refused
to register me in school
insisting that my duty in
her house was to take care
of her (Amunde) son.
"I was attending Girls
Secondary School in my
village and I was in JS-1.
Even when I was with her
mother (Amunde) briefly
before coming to Calabar,
she allowed me to go to
school. But my boss said
because of her son, I cannot
attend school."
Edu alleged that in the
course of carrying out her
duties, she was maltreated
and abused by Papa.
She alleged that it was
Papa that poured the hot
water on her after a
slight misunderstanding.
She said, "In the morning
of March 9, I unplugged a
kettle and was turning the
water in it into a bucket
when Papa said the water
splashed on him. He soon
brought a smaller bowl,
dipped it into the bucket of
hot water and poured it
on me.
"When I told my boss about
the incident, she neither
reacted nor did anything
to the burn. It was after my
skin had had started
peeling because of the burn
that Amunde gave me two
tablets of Panadol to use.
"However, when I went to
fetch water from the
borehole five days later,
some neighbours saw my
peeling skin and screamed.
One of them took me to the
general hospital."
At the hospital, a nurse,
who identified herself as
Alice, said a child rights
activist, Mr. James Ibor,
was called and he, in turn,
alerted the police.
Ibor said, "We have made
written requests to the
Cross River State
Commissioner of Police to
effect the arrest of Amunde
and Papa to face the law
because what they have
done amounts to felony."
The activist said what they
did by taking Udu from
her mother to serve as
housemaid was human
trafficking.
He said Udu would
thereafter be taken to an
orphanage where she
would eventually be taken
back to her parents after
the wound had healed.
Efforts to get Amunde and
Papa to speak on the issue
proved abortive.
When contacted, the state
Police Public Relations
Officer, Mr. John Umoh,
said he was yet to be
briefed of the incident.
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