Couple arrested for alleged torture and lock up of 11-year-old in toilet.

Ogun State police command have arrested a couple, Chioma and Innocent Anozie, for allegedly torturing an 11-year-old girl, Oluchi, in Ebute, in Ibafo, Ogun State.

The couple was accused of flogging the victim with ropes, starving her of food, and locking her up in a toilet for two days for wanting to play with other children in the neighbourhood.

Some residents were said to have found her crying in the toilet and reported to some soldiers in the community.

The soldiers visited the house and questioned the victim after which they got her details.

The soldiers immediately called a relative who brought her from the village, asking wheter or not she was in the know of the maltreatment. The relative consequently, called the couple to inquire them on the incident.

A resident, who did not want to be named, disclosed that  the soldiers reported at the Ibafo Police Station and caqme back with two policemen.

According to the resident, “When the policemen came, they called the woman’s husband on the telephone and he warned them not to break his door. The policemen did not stay long before leaving the girl in the toilet.”

However, the young girl did not find freedom until a journalist alerted the Ogun State Police Command Headquarters, after which some policemen from the Ibafo division, led by the Divisional Crime Officer, arrived the scene and rescued the victim.

READ ALSO: Buhari : Seven important things for presidential broadcast

The residents contacted PUNCH Metro who went to the scene of the incident and 6pm to find Oluchi was still in the toilet.

Oluchi started living with the couple about four years ago when she was relocated from her hometown in Owerri, Imo State.

However, she was said to have been subjected to various forms of brutal treatment by the couple who had yet to have a child.

A large numberof  residents of Ebute Road, Ibafo, on Friday, said Chioma, particularly always afflicted the victim for every offence, PUNCH reported.

Florence Sanusi, the landlady of their house, also said that the victim’s wailing always filled the compound each time Chioma tortured her.

She said, “They have been living in my house since December 2014. I, however, observed that she (Chioma) always flogged the girl. There was a day it rained heavily and I was hearing the girl’s cry. When I queried her husband, he said nothing was happening.

“But when I saw the girl the next day, her body was full of torture marks. Her eye was also swollen. She told me her guardian flogged her with cables.

“Recently, I heard her crying again and when I could not bear it, I warned them to stop the abuse or I would evict them from my house. Because of my reaction, they instructed the girl that whenever they flogged her, she must not cry. So, I started to hear muffled groans.

“I was fed up with their action and was planning to issue them a notice to quit this morning (Friday) when I was informed that they had locked the girl in the toilet without food for the past two days. When I talked to the girl, she said her madam said she would be in the toilet for 21 days and that was why I raised the alarm.”

READ ALSO: Breaking: Nigeria’s unity is settled and not negotiable – Buhari

Naija News gathered that Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi,  assured that the policemen would return to the scene.

While awaiting the police, Oluchi begged the newsmedia correspondent toassist her as she wanted to return to her parents.

She said, “My parents have seven children and I am their fifth child. All my siblings are living with other distant relatives. My madam (Chioma) is the daughter of my father’s sister .

“When I was brought from the village four years ago, she said I would be cleaning the house and washing clothes and dishes.  I am supposed to be in Junior Secondary School 2, but she put me in primary 4.

“Before we came to Ibafo, her husband used to allow me to play freely. But since we relocated here, she stopped me from going out. She said all the people in this house are criminals and they can use me for money ritual. She always beats me with ropes and cables.

“I have been inside the toilet since yesterday morning (Thursday). She locked me up because I went to take a story book in her room. She said I was lying and that I actually went to look for keys to open the door and go out.

“She used celotape to seal my mouth and chained my legs. She flogged me with ropes and a stick. She said I would serve 21 punishments. I only took garri on Thursday morning.”

PUNCH Metro observed that the victim had a Nokia phone with which the relative earlier called by the soldiers was communicating with her.

She was reportedly instructed to break the toilet door open and get spare keys to access another exit door from the three-bedroomed flat.

While our correspondent and other residents awaited the arrival of the police, a resident observed that the victim had disappeared from the toilet’s window which faced the passageway.

She was spotted tiptoeing out through the exit door at the backyard and was held.

Just then, the relative called the telephone line again to know if she had left the vicinity.

Our correspondent intercepted the phone and put the call on speaker.

“Don’t talk to anybody. Did you hear me? Oya move fast,” the woman, later identified as Victoria, said.

At that point, policemen from the Ibafo division arrived and took the frightened girl into custody.

A cleric, who stayed in the house, Segun Oshoffa, said he had foreseen the situation getting to a crisis level, adding that the couple didn’t heed his advice.

He said, “I observed that the couple needed a child badly. I told them that if they wanted God to answer their prayers, they should stop assaulting the girl.

“Both husband and wife changed for about three days. But afterwards, they continued with the assault.

“I called them the second time and urged them to return the girl to her parents if they could not take care of her. But they didn’t listen to me.”

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Oyeyemi, confirmed the arrest of the suspects to our correspondent on Sunday.

He promised to issue a statement on the incident detailing the suspects’ statements to the police.