Iyema Oyemola Oyewole, a deaconess at the Living Faith Church in Barnawa, Kaduna State, has been arrested for subjecting a 14-year-old girl kept in care to brutal torture.
The deaconess was arrested by Operatives of the Kaduna Police command for torturing the young girl, identified as Princess who has been living with the woman for a year now.
Princess was living with her parents in Kaduna until they were displaced by bandits following an attack on their community.
According to one Beevan SickForces Magoni who shared the story on Facebook, Princess’ father, allowed his daughter live with the Oyewoles, who he is friends with, because he had no accommodation and they begged to take her in.
While at the deaconess’ home, Princess was allegedly subjected to extreme torture from the deaconess and her children while the husband allegedly turned a blind eye.
The report stated that Princess was stopped from going to school since she moved into the house.
She was allegedly also made to sleep in the toilet and she had to drink water from the toilet when thirsty.
According to the report, the deaconess’ son punishes Princess and beats her at will, sometimes under the rain.
It was also alleged that the daughters of the Deaconess help their mother restrain Princess whenever she tortures her.
The report claims the Deaconess tortures the girl by putting a knife on fire till it is hot before using it to burn Princess all over her face.
Photos of Princess show her with burns and scars all over her face, buttock and vagina area.
It was alleged that the Deaconess also burns the girl’s vagina with lighter and sometimes inserts a hot stick into her vagina while her daughters help her hold the girl’s legs open. Afterwards, they would allegedly apply pepper.
She also allegedly refused to let the girl’s parents see her each time they tried because she did not want them seeing the injuries on her body. Whenever Princess‘ parents showed up, she told them they cannot enter her house because of coronavirus.
Eventually, Princess’ father became suspicious and got Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) involved. They were shocked at the horrific experience of Princess in the hands of the Oyewoles.
When the deaconess was questioned, she said she did not know the fire she used to torture the girl was that hot.
Sharing photos of Princess‘ fatal injures, Magoni narrated the full incident;
THE STORY OF PRINCESS VS THE DEACONESS.
This is the most unbelievable Child abuse story I have come in contact with so far. The picture of the girl here is that of a young Princess. She is fourteen years old from Kuturah in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Her father moved his family to Kaduna town when the neighboring village was attacked by the forces killing our people.
You should know that in Southern Kaduna we have over fifteen thousand internally displaced persons, and since they do not have a camp, those in the city centers have accommodated these people and are still doing that.
Mrs. Yemi Awolola whose picture appears above is a Refinery Staff. She is also a Church Deaconess with the Living Faith Church Barnawa. She has five children.
Mr. Oyewole begged for Princess to come and stay with them. The father single-handedly gave the girl to the woman. The woman even used holy water when he handed his daughter to the woman. He thought she was a good Christian woman.
A month later, he called to speak with his daughter; the woman said he must speak with her in English and not Hausa. She knew the daughter would likely spill.
She would now put the girl on the speaker to monitor her. Meanwhile, the girl was sleeping in the toilet all these while with not even a wrapper. The woman gave her a cup and told her that whenever she is thirsty she should fetch water from the toilet to drink.
In the interview video clip, you would hear the girl say, “They would now give me leaves like an animal” while in the toilet before the girl would come out to work her ass off.
The father said, “I did not collect or want any money from the woman. All that I wanted to be was for my daughter to go to school.” But in reality, for the past one year, Princess has gone to school just a week.
When asked, why did you go to school just once? And she replied, “The woman opened my bag one week after I commenced school and saw a carrot that I had put inside to eat during break and beat the living daylight out of me. Since then she stopped me from going to school.”
The woman puts a knife on a burner or stove and when it is hot, she would place it on her face. Her face used to be very swollen.
When the parents insisted on seeing her, she refused to let anyone have access to the girl. The mother, months ago went to the house to see the girl. It was raining, and for three hours, Mrs. Oyewole refused to let her see her daughter. She told her she would not allow her into the house because she does not want the woman to bring in coronavirus into the house.
When the mother refused to leave, she opened the gate for her and let her see the daughter from the gate of the house. She told her, “You can see your daughter is alive right? Now leave my house!”
The grains that the woman brought for the family, the woman instantly gave it out to the security men at the gate.
When the girl’s father was told of the inhumane treatment, he then realized that something was wrong. He made contact with the relevant people on how to get his daughter back but every effort proved unsuccessful. The woman told them that the girl was in Abuja.
On Monday, the Uncle to the girl called the woman and warned her that she had just six hours to return the girl and here we are today.
It was then she started treating the girl with iodine and ice to dry up the wounds.
Mrs. Oyewole has a son who beats Princess at will. Punishes her even under the rain. When all of these happens, the husband locks himself in his room and pretends like nothing is happening. Her children Tito and Nifemi would hold the girl’s neck while the mother would burn her buttocks and vagina with lighter.
They hold her down while the mother inserts a stick into her private part at the same time burning the vagina. They also put pepper in the vagina and over the wounds.
When asked at the police station, why did you treat the girl so, and she replied, “I didn’t know the fire was burning very well like that!”
Her Church had settled the matter but luckily, Alheri Magaji and the rest have gotten other NGOs involved. Living Faith Kaduna, you owe Kaduna people lots of apologies. Remember Nathaniel Samuel whom you all said carried a bomb into your Church meanwhile it was stolen fire crackers? You almost set Kaduna state on fire with your conduct. You never came out to address the whole issue.
To date, I believe Nath is still in incarceration. He was your Church member albeit a mentally challenged one. I did my investigation. I got threats and insults when I revealed the whole story. To date, nobody has said anything.
The Church in Nigeria is as culpable as anyone else. You settled this case and wanted that girl back to that woman’s home? You all are crazy!
