Woman sets 11-yr-old maid ablaze over piece of meat

LAGOS — Policemen at Bode Thomas
division of Lagos State command,
Tuesday, arrested a woman who allegedly
set her 11-year-old house maid ablaze in
Surulere area of Lagos, for stealing a
piece of meat from her pot of soup.
The maid identified as Ita Bassey-Eno who
reportedly escaped death by the
whiskers, is currently at the Burns and
Trauma Centre of the Gbadaga General
Hospital, with doctors battling to save her
life.

bed….
Although her mistress, a staff nurse at an
undisclosed hospital in Surulere, Mrs
Nkese Iroakazi, reportedly denied the
allegation at the police station, the ailing
girl was said to have managed to state
that she allegedly poured kerosene on
her before striking a stick of matches to
set her on fire.
The incident, as gathered, occurred last
Saturday at 7, Adeniran Ogunsanya Street,
after Ita rushed out of the apartment
with fire on her, apparently in an attempt
to plunge into a gutter. Unfortunately,
she reportedly fell before she could get
to the gutter.
One of the residents was said to have
succeeded in putting out the fire with the
aid of a fire extinguisher, before she was
rushed to the hospital.
Eyewitness account
A resident who simply identified herself
as Morakinyo told Vanguard: "I was just
alighting from the bus when I saw people
gathered in front of the building. When I
got there, I saw Ita whom we all call Eno
on the floor. Then, the flame had been
put out.
"Two men who attempted to carry her
into a car could not because the skin at
that time had peeled off. They had to get
a slab, placed her on it and rushed her to
the hospital. From what I gathered, the
girl has spent barely one month in Lagos
before the incident.
"She was brought from her village in
Akwa Ibom State last month alongside
another girl called Happiness. Since then,
we have not seen either of them going to
school.
"We heard that while Happiness was in
the sitting room, there was a cry from Ita
in the kitchen and before she (Happiness)
knew what was happening, Ita rushed
out of the kitchen and straight to the
road shouting for help.
"How could someone who has children of
her own treat another's like this? It was
even the residents that alerted policemen
who came to pick Mrs Iroakazi."
95% burns
When Vanguard visited the hospital,
Tuesday, a doctor who spoke on condition
of anonymity expressed fear about the
victim's condition, revealing that she
suffered 95 per cent burns.
"It will take a miracle for her to survive.
In any case, we are trying all we can to
ensure she gets back on her feet. That
will entail some surgeries because her
private part was badly damaged.
"Currently, she wears pampers and that
area needs immediate surgery after the
injuries would have healed."
Ita was sighted with bandage all over her
body, except her face and feet. When a
nurse approached her to administer the
day's treatment, she groaned in pains.
As at 3 p.m yesterday, police sources told
Vanguard that the suspect would be
transferred to the state Criminal
Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba for
further investigation.