The wife of the Governor of Ekiti State, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi, has saved Sogo Fakorede, seven, from brutality in the hands of his father, step mother and a neighbour known simply as Babalawo.
The boy’s father, Mr. Rufus Fakorede, allegedly tied up his hands and legs and beat him for refusing to run an errand for his wife.
Some neighbours of the Fakoredes, who said they witnessed the boy being beaten up, had complained to the Office of the Wife of the Governor and urged her to intervene.
The concerned neigbhours alleged that the father, who is separated from Sogo’s mother, and his wife, had constantly maltreated the boy.
When he was brought to the governor’s wife on Thursday, Sogo had lacerations on his body, in addition to swelling on his hands and legs.
The boy was subsequently treated at the Government House Clinic by the Medical Director, Dr. Samuel Omotoso, who confirmed that he had bruises all over his body.
Narrating his ordeal to journalists, Sogo said, “My stepmother sent me to buy kerosene. When I was leaving the house, I did not hear her call me back. I returned without kerosene because it was not available.
“Then she reported me to my father. Out of fear, I ran away from the house and went to Babalawo’s house, where my father later came to pick me .
“My father told me to go home and eat, but I refused because I knew what he meant. Babalawo encouraged me to stay with him. But he tied my legs, while my father tied my hands and beat me with cable. It was not the first time he would do that to me.”
PUNCH NG
