The Ogun State Police Command says it has arrested Mrs Jennifer Dikeocha for allegedly inflicting varying degrees of injury on her four-year-old step daughter, Stephanie, a pupil of Royal Peters International Academy, Mowe, Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of the state.
The suspect was said to have been arrested on Friday, November 9, 2018.
Stephanie’s class teacher reportedly lodged a complaint at the Mowe Police Station, having discovered lacerations on the pupil’s back, which were allegedly inflicted by the stepmother, showing same to policemen at the station.
The teacher, whose name was not supplied by the police, said she had noticed the lacerations over time, adding that the girl was always weeping whenever the school closed for the day.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the teacher explained to the police that the victim came to school on Friday sickly and when she tried to feel her body temperature, the girl recoiled in pain.
The victim’s mother was said to have died after given birth to Stephanie.
“She said this prompted her to check her and found lacerations all over the girl’s body,” Oyeyemi added.
He said the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Mowe Divisional Police Headquarters, Francis Ebhuoma, detailed detectives to follow the girl to the house where her stepmother was arrested.
“The Abia State born woman told the police that the mother of the girl died while giving birth to her and that she (Jennifer) got married to the girl’s father in 2016,” the police spokesperson stated.
Oyeyemi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said the suspect could not adduce any reason for maltreating the girl.
Meanwhile, the state Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Iliyasu, has ordered that the juvenile welfare section of the command should conduct a thorough investigation into the case.
SOURCE PUNCH