It has been gathered that the cage that has housed the victim for two and half years is just by the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital in Okolobiri community, Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.
She was rescued from the cage few days ago by the Mary Slessor Twins Foundation.
The group, led by its acting president, Mr Robert Ebitei Tonye, disclosed that preliminary investigations revealed that Blessing was diagnosed with an illness nine years ago which triggered convulsion.
Findings revealed that when Blessing was taken to the hospital for medical attention nine years ago, the parents were asked to pay #15, 000 for for her
treatment.
It was further learnt that the father,
who said he could not afford such
medical bill, requested her to be
discharged and signed a form that he
was taking her from the hospital
against medical advice.
He was said to have later taken her to
different traditional homes for her
illness to be cured and when no solution
was forthcoming, especially when she
defecates and vomits in the house, he
decided to construct a cage where she
was kept.
Concerned neighbours, who have
watched in horror the maltreatment
Blessing was subjected to, alerted the
group known for its campaign against
maltreatment of twins in the state.
The first day the group went to the
house to rescue her, Tonye said some
strange occurrences and the blunt
refusal of the father to hand her over,
prevented the group from rescuing her.
But on its second mission, they
succeeded and immediately took her to
the Okolobiri hospital.
While lamenting the condition of the
teenager, Tonye said: “She was kept
like a rabbit. She was given food when
it was available and was allowed to
sleep in her vomit, feces and urine. She
lost weight and could have died”.
At the Okolobiri hospital where she is
kept, many who visited her described
her parents’ action as wicked and
callous.
Speaking further on the incident,
Tonye said: “The father told us that
the girl has been sick for 13 years and
since she refused to die, she was locked
up. We rescued her and took her to the
hospital. Our pre-occupation is to
stabilize her condition before we
ensure we press charges against the
parents”
Scared that he could be arrested,
Olokumo has already gone underground.
The mother, Mrs Olokumo, who now
stays with her at the hospital, lamented
that they have spent all their money to
get solution to her problem.
According to her, since they could not
get money to get her proper medical
attention, they decided to give up and
she allowed the father to handle it.
Dr Oyedeji Adeyemi of the NDUTH,
who is attending to her, explained that
her case is that of seizure disorder
which was not properly treated.
“The case is principally a case of a child
having a seizure disorder in what some
people would call epilepsy which in
technical terms is seizure disorder
which was not treated appropriately.
“Rather than give her medical attention,
she was kept out of the house, sort of
restricted environment and barely fed
which had over time led to
malnutrition”, Adeyemi stated.
Some civil society groups have already
concluded plans to give all the
necessary support to the Mary Slessor
Twins Foundation to see that Blessing’s
parents do not go free for the act of
inhumanity to their own child.
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