Girl, 13, found in cyclist’s house 15 days after disappearance

Juliana Francis

A 13-year-old primary six pupil has been found 15 days after she went missing at the Ijegun area of Lagos State.

 

The girl went missing after she ran away from home following her paternal grandmother’s threat to slaughter her into tiny pieces and throw her remains away for failing to sell all the sachet water given her to sell.

 

After running away from home, she was picked up by a cyclist she identified as Lateef. The cyclist kept her in his home located at Ikotun area of the metropolis for 15 days, and then she further alleged that he ‘touched’ her.

 

The girl was found on Saturday at Ikotun axis by a relative who saw her wandering around. The mother of the girl, Tijani Rofiat, explained that her daughter had been living with her paternal grandmother following a dispute between her and the father called Samuel.

 

Rofiat said that she has made several attempts to take the girl, but the Samuel’s mom, popularly called, ‘Alhaja’ wouldn’t allow her.

Rofiat said that after her daughter went missing, nobody bothered to alert her. She got to know only after she called Alhaja, and insisted that the child must come to spend part of the summer holiday with her.

 

Rofiat narrated: “The grandmother, Alhaja uses her in hawking her wares. Alhaja sent her to go and hawk sachet water, but she didn’t make enough sales. When she returned to Alhaja, the woman threatened to kill, cut her into pieces and that at midnight, she would throw her remains into a canal. The threat scared her. When Alhaja gave money to go and give somebody, she ran away. She said that Lateef saw her and took her away. Police had been to the man’s house, but he was not around.”

 

Rofiat said that Lateef took the girl to his house and kept her there for days. The victim also told her mom that she got to know Lateef while hawking sachet water. “She wanted to return home, but she was scared of facing Alhaja. She didn’t want to be killed. Then she stepped out of the house on Saturday and started wandering, that was how one of Alhaja’s grandsons saw her and took her home.”

 

Before the girl was found, Rofiat had gone to AIT Faaji FM and police station to report her missing. She also got a human rights activist, Mrs. Esther Ogwu, involved in the matter. Ogwu is the Chief Executive Officer of Esther Child Rights Foundation.