A Nigerian businesswoman, who deals in car parts and whose names we got as Blessing Ifeyinwa Onovo, has been detained in Bamenda for inhumane treatment mitted on her house help.
The 16-year old girl, native of Batibo, was accused for allegedly swindling food from the house to neighbours' and also going to bed with the mistress’ brother, at the Namoh neighborhood in Nkwen Bamenda.
Her arrest was prompted by officials of the Centre for Human Right and Peace Advocacy (CHRAPA), a Bamenda based human right organization which has been following the case closely with the assistance of the State Counsel of Mezam.
The woman in questioned used a kerosene stove to heat a knife after which she placed the hot knife on various parts of the girl’s body including the face, and the thighs, leaving huge scars and wounds.
She is presently under detention at the Judicial Police Bamenda on the orders of the State Counsel of Mezam, while the police and CHRAPA are busy concluding their investigations.
Her situation is further complicated by the fact that the woman in question is pregnant but close sources revealed that child maltreatment has been her natural hobby.
"For the past three years that the child has been in this house it has been total hell," a source revealed.
The girl also had old scars on the lips which she revealed that were inflicted by the same woman with the use of hot charcoal from the fire.
The woman’s husband, Mr. Paul Onovo, told Bamenda Online that he was not aware of the act until the next day when he noticed the house help with a huge burn mark on the face.
He said he had earlier punished his brother in-law and the house-help when they found him in the girl’s room late in the night and reportedly told the wife not to punish them again. But she had other ideas and blamed the 16 year house help of seducing her 21-year old brother to sleeping with her.
The victim denied that she seduced the boy and says she has not been paid for the over three years three months she has worked for them. She added that these "exploiters are simply looking for a way to make her run and abandon the money they owe her."
The total amount in question is 390 000FCFA based on the salary of 10 000FCFA per month which they had earlier agreed on.
