Lagos drags woman to court for setting 10-year-old boy ablaze

The Lagos State Government has arraigned a woman, Gift Igwe, who set her 10- year - old brother- in - law ablaze in Agunfoye area of Ikorodu , Lagos.

The boy , Chimobi , who has been taken into protective custody by the Lagos State Government, sustained extensive burn injuries on his back and arms.

Chimobi was set ablaze by the woman for misplacing his trousers and could not produce them when Gift demanded them from him.

The boy was reportedly rescued by residents of the community, who heard the cry of the boy and rushed him to hospital.

The Director of the Office of Public Defender, Mrs. Olubukola Salami, told Saturday PUNCH that the boy is now in a children ’ s home.

Igwe, a nursing mother, was charged with assault causing grievous harm under Section 254 of the Criminal Code Laws of Lagos , 2011.

She has since been granted bail in the sum of N 500 , 000 with two sureties with like sum but has failed to perfect the conditions
Salami said the OPD had the intension of taking Igwe ’ s four- month - old baby into custody along with Chimobi but that prison officials had indicated that there was a wing for nursing mothers in the Kirikiri Prisons where she is held.

She said , “When we charged her to court, all the people in the community came to court that day to buttress the fact that she had been abusing the child over a period of time.

“We thought we could have charged the boy ’ s brother to court for neglect too because when he brought the boy , who is an orphan from the village , he failed to put him in school. At the moment , we are working to ensure that the boy is enrolled in a school .”