Peace Corps rescue wandering 11-Year-Old girl In Akure

By Oluniyi Akintunde, Akure

The Peace Corps of Nigeria, Ondo State Command, has rescued 11-year old girl (name withheld) wandering around Abusoro area of Ijoka in Akure, following the alleged harsh treatment by her grandmother.

The girl, a primary six pupil, ran away from Ikere-Ekiti to Akure, according to information from her grandmother, due to maltreating she also encountered.

Chief Information Officer of the command, Mr Ayodele Adetilewa explained that the girl who was found stranded at the popular Abusoro junction had absconded from her school in Ikere-Ekiti where she lived with her paternal grandmother in meeting her mother.

According to Adetilewa, the girl was found by a Peace Corps officer, who noticed her irregular movement in the area and brought her to the corps’s state command headquarters in Alagbaka, Akure.

He said: “The girl gave other reasons as, starvation and occasional allegation of theft meted out to her by her grandmother and stepmother, whom she lived with in Ikere-Ekiti.

“The girl ran away with intension of meeting her mother in Akure without informing any of her guardians or staff of the school with the hope of gaining parental care and solace by reconnecting with her mother.”

It was learnt that the grandmother and mother, who were invited to the office of the Peace Corps on Wednesday as preliminary investigation continued, denied any wrongdoing.

But the grandmother of the girl who pleaded anonymity revealed that it was the third time the girl would run away from Ikere to Akure.

She said the girl had stolen N2000 from her as transport fare, denying any form of her, noting that she had been with her since she was under two years old.

The grandmother also accused the girl of not delivering proceeds from the sales she made from her small business.

Also, the mother of the girl, who is now remarried to another man, claimed the child just wanted to paint the family bad name, saying, “this is the third time she is doing this and mama has been taking good care of her.”

The mother, who revealed that she has no means of livelihood except her present husband, said that the child’s father would not cater for her welfare if she lives the custody of her grandmother.