The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a grandmother, Bose Adebayo, in Abeokuta, for allegedly attacking her grandchild with a hot pot.
The victim, Tope Oke, an eight-year-old Primary Two pupil of St James Primary School, Ijeun-Titun, Abeokuta, was attacked by her grandmother, who accused her of eating a bowl of rice without her consent.
The victim was immediately rushed to State Hospital in the Ijaiye area of the state capital where doctors were battling to save her life by Tuesday.
Sources close to the family told PREMIUM TIMES that Mrs. Adebayo returned from a party with some cooked rice served at the ceremony, which she kept in the house with the hope of eating it later.
However, the granddaughter allegedly ate part of the food, infuriating her guardian.
It was learnt that her angry grandmother, who soon discovered what happened summoned Tope, tied her with a rope and beat her up for daring to tamper with the food.
Mrs. Adebayo allegedly inflicted bodily injury on the young lad in the process.
Angered by the attack, residents of Baba Olodo House in Ijeun Titun/Oloronbo community, where Mrs. Adebayo reside, alerted the police, the ministry of women affairs and social development and the Child Protection Network, an umbrella body of all non-governmental organisations in Ogun State.
When contacted, the police spokesperson in the state, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the incident.
He said the suspect would be charged to court on completion of investigations.
When PREMIUMTIMES visited the Ibara Police Station was being held, she was seen behind the counter awaiting transfer to the Anti-Human Trafficking Department.
The Special Adviser to the Ogun State Governor on Women Affairs and Social Development, Adenike Osoba, described the action of the suspect as “crude and inhuman.”
She vowed that the law would take its course on the matter.
Mrs. Osoba said the authorities would not allow anybody to maltreat their children or any other person.
She said the victim would also be taken into the ministry’s custody after proper medication.
