Photos:Mother discipline child with Hot iron

A woman, identified simply as Mrs. Maxwell, has
been arrested by the police for allegedly assaulting
her daughter, Blessing, with a hot pressing iron.
Blessing, a primary three student of the Lagos Model
Nursery and Primary School, Ikeja GRA, was allegedly
assaulted last Monday by her mother for licking the
baby's food.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the incident came to
light after a neighbour, who lived within the Police
College Barracks, Ikeja, with the Maxwells, allegedly
called the authorities of the LMNPS to complain about
Blessing's condition. Blessing's father is said to be a
police corporal.
A source within the school, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity, said, "It was last Friday that
we got the anonymous call. At the time, two of
Blessing's younger siblings were in school, so we
called them aside and asked after Blessing.
"At first, they were both scared that they would get
into trouble with their mother if they told the truth
but they eventually opened up and said their mother
had used a hot pressing iron on Blessing."
The Head Teacher of the school, accompanied by
some other employees of the school, was said to
have visited Blessing at home.
It was learnt that on arriving at the Maxwells' house,
Blessing was seen sitting outside their flat, sporting
burn marks all over her body.
The source said, "We tried to question Blessing about
what happened to her, but she was scared of her
mother. Eventually, we went into the house and
confronted the mother, but she lied that hot water
had mistakenly poured on Blessing.
"When we asked if Blessing had received medical
attention for her injuries, her mother got annoyed
and dragged Blessing into the house. She then
refused to answer more questions. Since it was a
police barracks, we thought it wise to leave quietly
before things got out of hand.
"The most painful aspect of the whole issue is that
despite Blessing's wounds, their neighbour told us
that she had been carrying out house chores like
before. From what I saw, that girl is so injured that I
didn't expect that she would be able to come to
school for the rest of the term. Not one of us guessed
that she was being abused at home."
PUNCH Metro gathered that both mother and child
were picked up by officials of the Lagos State
Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation
after the school authorities alerted the ministry.
Blessing was said to have been picked up by a Lagos
State Ambulance Service bus.
When our correspondent contacted the Child
Director, WAPA, Mrs. Fadairo, she said, "I cannot talk
at this time. We are at the hospital and Blessing is in
critical condition."
Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi
Braide, could not be reached for comments
Sounce: PUNCH.