Thirteen years ago, his mother abandoned him on a refuse dump. But he was lucky. An old woman was on time and she witnessed all that transpired. She picked the child and took him home to nurse. August 2007, the old woman died and her daughter took the lad to live with her. Now, there is a problem, a big one.

A few days ago, the lady, Mrs. Omowunmi Oriami, dragged the boy, now 13, to Festac police station in Lagos. She told the police that she came to sign off on the boy because, with him, her life was in danger. Mrs. Oriami is in her late 30s. Her mother, the old woman, had named the boy, Emmanuel.


She told the police that since she took over the custody of Emmanuel, she had not seen any good in him. She said the boy is speedily turning into a dangerous criminal. So, she had come, not only to hand him over to the police to save her own life, but also, may be, police could do anything to pull him back from the path he was treading. To formalize her request, she approached the police with a withdrawal letter.


Mrs. Oriami narrated how Emmanuel became a member of the family. “Emmanuel was picked up by my mother at birth and has kept him till she died in August 2007.” According to her, 13 years ago, while her mother went to dispose of some garbage in her Ketu, Lagos neighbourhood, she heard the cry of a baby and she went closer to discover that there was a young lady trying to breastfeed the baby. She waited by the side, with the thought that the young woman might be mentally unstable. After breastfeeding the baby, she noticed that the lady wrapped it in a blanket, dropped it and murmured a word, as of prayer, and turned to leave.


“When my mother saw her leave, she rushed after her and dragged her back. It was then she told her that she was about to travel to get married and that if her husband gets to know that she had a baby, the marriage would not hold again. Then I was the only child of my mother, so she promised the girl who introduced herself as Ifunanya that she would take care of the baby if she would come and breastfeed the baby regularly. I saw her come severally.


“Then she came one day and told my mother that she could no longer come as people suspected that she was actually coming there to take care of a baby. She said that she wanted to concentrate on her new marriage and we never saw her again nor do we know how to trace her. My mother adopted him and named him Emmanuel. He grew with us till my mother died and I took him in to live with me and my family.”


The problem now is, according to Mrs. Oriami, “ever since my mother died and I took him in, I have had no peace. He has been involved in all kinds of criminal acts, like child molestation and absconding from home frequently. And each time, I will go about looking for him with fear that, if any of this happens to him, I would be accused. That is why I brought him here to sign off his custody.”

After listening to her, Festac DPO, CSP Usman Ndandabo, shattered by the story of Emmanuel, ordered that proper investigation be conducted to ensure that this was not a case of child trafficking. He told Saturday Sun that the child would be handed over to one Evangelist Jacinta Nworie, pending when a permanent custody would be secured. “I am grateful that this woman was wise enough to bring him to the police, rather than driving him away. Most of the criminals out there are victims of circumstance that end up surviving the hard way. I pray that with constant correction and love, he can still be useful to the society.”

But the lad had an opportunity to state his case. Emmanuel, who speaks good English, said he wants to be a pilot, even if it means going to steal to achieve that. The boy insists that his life changed when the old woman, whom he knew as mother, died.


[b]And why is he always on the run? He said: “My life has never remained the same ever since the woman I grew up to know as mother died. It was then I knew that I was picked from the garbage. Any little offence I commit, my aunty (Mrs. Oriami) will remind me of my history and threaten to send me back to where I was picked. I am sorry that I have been a bad boy; it’s just that I find peace hanging out with some of these street boys. Most of my friends do not have home or parents and they tell me that one day, I would be thrown to the streets. That is why I decided to learn how to survive out there, in case that time comes.”


Asked what he was told about his mother, Emmanuel said: “I was told that she dumped me because she wants to marry again. She is heartless because even if she does not want me, she should have dumped me in front of my father’s house or even in a Catholic church. I heard that most of the Rev. Fathers in the church were dumped. Maybe today, I would have a better life. She has no excuse for making me suffer and I hope her husband finds out the kind of person she is.”


Would he want to look for her and trace his roots? He said: “I am not interested. All I want is for God to raise a helper so that I can actualize my dream of becoming a pilot. When I become a pilot, I will fly away to a new country where no one knows my past and would rob it on my face. I don’t want to end up like my father who got my mother pregnant and ran away.”

Bothered by his last response, Emmanuel was asked if he knew that, with the kind of friends he is keeping that he might end up like his father. He shouted: “God forbid! I am in primary six, but we have been taught about sex. I promised myself that, although I hang out with these boys, I will only allow them teach me the way to survive, not the way to get small girls pregnant.”[/b]

Meanwhile, Emmanuel was handed over to Evangelist Jacinta Nworie who has promised to accommodate him pending when an alternative would be provided. Evangelist Nworie said that she was moved to accept him, after listening to his pathetic story. “I have decided to take him in and enroll him in a school, pending when a permanent foster parent would be found. If his perception about life cannot be corrected, then we risk breeding another criminal for the future.”

http://sunnewsonline.com/national/article/picked-garbage-13-years-ago-0

Am tempted to believe the child, I don't know about you.

This is such a sad story.

It just goes to show that when two irresponsible adults decide to bring a child into the world, it's the innocent child who suffers the most. I find that woman's reasons for her action (she doesn't deserve to be called a mother!) unbelievably selfish, ignorant and f[i]oo[/i]lish.

Now, I've seen a couple of threads praising the efforts of single mothers (in our Naija)doing their best to love, raise and sacrifice everything physically and emotionally for their kids - and yet you get posters damning them for their selfless acts. This story just goes to prove that life is not all black or white. There are shades of grey too.

It's really sad to know that there are people out there who are more than willing to give an arm and a leg, just to have a child. What we see instead is a case of an undeserving human blessed with a child, who decides that in order to save her face, it's best she denies and abandons her child. This world is indeed an unfair place. This child did not ask to be born.

For what it's worth, yes - I too believe what the child says. Bless him.

@ Efemena XY, we share same opinion and in addition to that I believe the young boy is a victim of circumstance and throwing his condition to his face is not a way to be a "mother". She did a great job starting from where her own mother stopped but this current situation is about to make a mess of all her efforts especially because if the young boy were to be her biological son, she wouldn't give up on him at age 13.

Who is evangelist Nworie?our system is fvcked, believe me.
Why was the boy not handed over to the state welfare service who would arrange a home or a better alternative for the boy?

ifyalways: Who is evangelist Nworie?our system is fvcked, believe me.
Why was the boy not handed over to the state welfare service who would arrange a home or a better alternative for the boy?

I wonder O.

maclatunji:

I wonder O.

welfare services for 9ja?. .

^they work, best believe! Atleast in states like rivers, lagos and IMO.
Not saying they are 100% efficient but they really are trying.