Blessing Olokumo, 16, was kept in a grubby dungeon, located in front of her family apartment, built with carton board and roofing sheets for the last two and a half years.
Blessing who is a twin suffers 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 receiving treatment because he could not afford the N15,000 medical bill.
Blessing who is a twin suffers 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 receiving treatment because he could not afford the N15,000 medical bill.
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.
The convulsion was said to have worsened over time due to poor medical attention leading to her abnormal behaviour. 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.
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 by her parents.
Assistance 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.
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.
“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,” Dr Deji said.
Vanguard
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