NIGERIA – A 13-year-old girl has died after being beaten by her half-sister for bed-wetting.

Precious Omenka,13, was staying with her older half-sister Nneka and Nneka’s mother Seki Eko in Lagos when she was brutally beaten, eventually leading to her death, their father said.

Mr. Emeka Omenka, the father of the deceased, said he had Nneka out of wedlock with Seki Eko. He later got married and his wife Ifeoma raised Nneka as her own as she found it hard conceiving her first child.

Mr Emeka Omenka said his older daughter Nneka asked that her younger sister Precious pays her a visit. Precious went to Nneka’s house in Ikota, Lekki on October 12, but was returned on October 16 looking weak with complaints of body pains. She informed her parents that she had been beaten by Nneka and her mother Seki Eko for wetting the bed.

Mr Omenka said Precious gave details of how she was kicked in the stomach, chest and sides several times. She added that she was beaten with a mop stick and a cable as well.

Precious, a JSS 3 student, was taken to Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Ebute Metta where she died on October 25 from complications resulting from the beating she allegedly received from her half-sister Nneka and Nneka’s mother.

According to The Nation, Precious’ death certificate revealed that the primary and secondary causes of death were Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) and Cardiopulmonary Collapse.

Reacting to his daughter’s death, Mr Omenka said: “I am in pain. My heart is broken. Nneka is my first daughter. I had her out of wedlock with one Seki Eko I was in a relationship with. Nneka was trained by my wife Ifeoma who loved her like her own child.

“When I got married to my wife, it was difficult for her to conceive and so she brought up Nneka like her own child. So, when she came and said Precious should come to her place, we did not have any reason to deny her request. “Her husband lives in Dubai. She promised to send her to a private school to appreciate my wife for taking care of her.

“Precious went to her place on October 12. It was that weekend that it rained all through. Then, on October 14, which was a Monday, it also rained and Precious said she peed on the bed. That was her offence that made my daughter and her mother to descend on her like that.

“When they finished, they brought her back and dumped her at my place in Apapa Road, Ebute Metta. She was complaining of body pains and narrated what happened to her at her sister’s place in tears. I could not bear it and I wept as she was talking.

“My wife and I bought painkillers that we gave her. My wife was also using hot water and cloth to massage her body. We did not know that it was so bad. When we saw that she was not getting better despite the painkillers, we decided to take her to FMC because that’s where she was born.

“She was already stooling on her body and her mother was cleaning it. So, at the hospital, she was rushed to the emergency room after the doctors said she was short of blood. They did so many tests and scans and discovered that she was bleeding internally and that her bladder burst too.

“She was in the hospital some days and was booked for emergency surgery. I was busy running around to raise money to save my daughter’s life. I even borrowed from friends and family members so that she could be saved but at last we lost her.

“Nneka did not tell me what happened to my daughter and did not even come to the hospital until her relative from her mother’s side who works at the FMC called her to rebuke her. That was when she came and spent about N14,000 on my daughter’s drugs that day.

“I did not go to the police station then because I was busy running around for my daughter to be alright. But after she passed on…my kinsmen  advised I report at the station. I went to Denton Police Station and Iponri but they told me it did not happen in their jurisdiction and that I should go to Lekki to report.

“I just sent a message to her husband and told him what she did. My wife has been inconsolable since then.

“I want justice for my daughter. I feel very disappointed that this happened to my family. I want human rights to come and government to investigate this case. Nneka is my daughter but Precious is also my daughter and she did not deserve to die like that,” he said.

The Nation reports that Nneka told those around her that her younger sister died as a result of ruptured appendicitis, adding that the girl was ill before she took her to her house.

But the mother of the deceased told the publication that she was still in shock over the incident and denied insinuations that Precious might have been ill.

She said: “My daughter was very healthy and even cooked for her younger ones that day before following Nneka.

Nneka and her mother should explain what happened to my daughter. Nneka was brought to my house when she was 17 and we trained her in the university. I never did any wrong to her and then, she chose to pay me back this way?” Meanwhile, a coalition of child advocates has volunteered to take over the case and ensure justice.

Sources at the police station said an order to exhume the teenager’s body would be sought so that autopsy could be conducted.

Police spokesman Bala Elkana confirmed the case was reported at Ajiwe Division in Ajah, adding that the suspects have been arrested.

Guardian News