Grandma faints, hospitalised after attack by politician in Edo

 Taiwo Jimoh 

IGP, Mohammed Adamu

A 65-year-old woman, Mrs Grace Iphunkha, has been hospitalised after she and her daughter, Precious, were beaten by a politician identified as Mr Felix Aliu, at the Aghenebode area of Edo State.

Aliu, who is an ex-councillor, was further alleged to have said that he would foot the burial of Iphunkha’s if she dies from the beating.

Aliu allegedly attacked Iphunkha and beat her to a statement of unconsciousness after she accused him of driving through her farmland and destroying her crops.

When Iphunkha confronted Aliu, he was said to have retorted that Iphunkha shouldn’t have planted her crops on the pathway, thereby preventing vehicles from easily having access into the community.

Iphunkha explained that she planted the crops on the portion of her land, near her house, in order to prevent snakes from gathering in the bushy area. Thus, she cleared it and started farming on it.

She further narrated that on September 17, she had confronted Aliu over the destruction on her farm and that he had pounced on her, beating her black and blue. He accused her of blocking the community pathway.

She said: “I was trying to explain things to him, when he suddenly grabbed my head and started hitting me. He has been complaining about the farm for long. I don’t know why. He held my head for long, to the extent that I couldn't breathe. Some residents pleaded with him to release me, but he refused and continued to hit me. He was still hitting me when my daughter, who had just had a baby, rushed to the scene and attempted to rescue me from him. But he turned to my daughter and started beating her. Since the incident, my daughter has been unable to hear well with both ears.”

The grandmother further stated: "When the beating was too much for me, I lost consciousness. He noticed I had fainted and ran away. When I regained consciousness the following day, I found myself in the hospital. He ran to the police station to lodge a complaint that someone he was fighting with, collapsed and fainted. He told them that he was not the one that caused the person to collapse and lose consciousness. To his surprise, he was arrested and detained.”

Iphunkha added that throughout her stay at the hospital, Aliu didn't visit her. “I spent a week at the hospital and paid my hospital bill myself,” said Iphunkha.

After Iphunkha was discharged from the hospital, she and her daughter went to the police station to press charges. The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) told Aliu to apologise to Iphunkha that he was at fault.

Iphunkha said: “I was shocked when he started boasting at the police station, that if I die, he had enough money to foot my burial. He threatened to kill me and demanded that the matter should be charged to court. He said he knew I had nobody, who would come to my rescue. I told him I had God. His wife also joined him in threatening and abusing my daughter. She called my daughter a bastard. Since the threat from Aliu and his wife, I live in fear. I try not to go out at night because he could organise my kidnap and people wouldn’t know he’s behind it. Since my discharged from the hospital, I have been buying drugs. Just last week, doctor asked me to buy another set of drugs. I couldn’t get the drugs in Benin, so I had to go all the way to Asaba, in Delta State, to get the drugs. Aliu have never supported me with a dime for medical expenses. In fact, other vehicles have been driving through without disturbing my farm. I don't know what I did to him. I’m not the only person planting crops in their compound in our community. Many people are doing it. I don't know why he focused on me. I don't want to die; I’m appealing to Governor Godwin Obaseki to come to my rescue. My daughter and I are scared. We no longer sleep with our two eyes close.”

Aliu, however, denied beating Iphunkha or Precious farmland being on the pathway. Aliu said he and Iphunkha were family members and had been living in peace.

He explained: “I didn't beat her! It was just the issue of blocking the road into the community. When I told her to leave the road, she held my cloth and started screaming that I should beat her. Even when I begged her to leave me, she continued to hold onto my cloth. When I tried to free myself from her grip, she fell and became unconscious. How could I beat her? We’ve been together in this community for over 20 years. I told the DPO that God should judge me if I ever laid a hand on her. The woman’s children and I are friends. She also has children who are my age mates. Why should I beat someone like her? We’re family. When the matter was brought before some elders in the community, she was blamed and accused of causing erosion on the road. The shirt she torn is still at home. She was also the one who went to court. Even policemen were sent to the scene to investigate it.  I don't know why she wants trouble.”

Precious said that Aliu grabbed her mother's head firmly and started hitting her, “as if he was fighting his fellow male.” She had to try to rescue her mother.

But Aliu “Slapped me and since then, I have not been hearing with my ears. I have been treating myself since the incident without any financial assistance from him.”

Precious added: “When he was beating my mother, some residents begged him to spare her, he but responded that he didn’t want such people in his family. He also said he had enough money to bury my mother if she dies from his beating. My mother later became unconscious and was rushed to the hospital. The location of the farm is not on the any pathway. His father’s house is closer to the road than my mother’s. My mom only planted potatoes and melon on that farmland to avoid it becoming bushy. It could attract snakes. She has been planting on that land for over 10 years. After my mother was rushed to the police station, the DPO said she should be taken to Salawu Hospital for treatment. It was not my mother that called the police to arrest him. How could someone who fainted and was rushed to hospital, be able to call the police? It was the same hospital where my mother was taken to, that I was treated.”

Precious, who revealed that Aliu is an ex-councillor, further explained that at the police station, the DPO urged Aliu to apologise to Iphunkha, but he refused.

She said: “He said he preferred the matter to be charged to court and that he had enough money for the case. When my mother was still at the hospital, his wife came to our house to fight my siblings and I. She said I should tell my mom to show me my biological father. Even when the matter was brought before the king, he blamed my mother that she was the cause of everything. Some of the chiefs at the palace also supported the man. I was later told that it was the king who said they should come and demarcate the road in my mom’s absence. We want justice and up till now, Aliu is still threatening my mother. I’m afraid he might kill her.”

Following the confrontation with Aliu, Iphunkha knew she truly had no one to fight for her and neither does she have money for a court war. Concerned friends and family members suggested she should seek the assistance of a human rights activist. Iphunkha’s brother dashed to Esther Child Rights Foundation.

The managing director of the foundation, Esther Ogwu, said it was Iphunkha’s brother who came to report about the manner his ‘aged aunt’ was beaten in Edo State.

Ogwu said: “When I spoke with Iphunkha, she told me she was not farming on the pathway and she has been farming there for years. But on that fateful day, Aliu deliberately drove his car over her crops and destroyed them. When she went to ask him why, he attacked her. He told the woman that after beating her, nothing would happen. I believe the boasting was because he’s a politician. Iphunkha’s daughter, Precious, who is nursing a baby was also beaten. Since the incident, Iphunkha and Precious had been to hospital for treatment. They can’t do much work because of the injuries they sustained from the beaten. As a human rights group, we have contacted a lawyer to represent her and get justice for her. We don't want her suffering to go in vain. She also footed her medical bills alone. Aliu should pick up the medical bills of mother and daughter. He was the one that beat and caused them to be going to hospital.”