18 year old girl hospitalized after been assaulted by her boss.

18 year old graduate of Day Star Secondary School, Makurdi, Miss Winifred Iwuese Kaave who hails from Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State  is currently recuperating at Vision Hospital on Kaduna Street, Makurdi after she was severely beaten by an Igbo man identified as Emmanuel Raphael,  the owner of the bet shop she works for on the upstairs of Ndupet Plaza at Katsina-ala Street, High-Level, Makurdi.

Narrating the story to Ukan KURUGH , her elder brother, Mr. Martins Kaave explained that, his sister who had graduated from secondary school and was an applicant into tertiary institution decided to pick of the job of a cashier at the bet shop to keep busy and more so that, the shop is close to their home. However, on Wednesday, the 5th of July, 2017, his sister was called back to the shop after she had closed by 8pm by the man who owns the shop; Mr. Emmanuel Raphael and moments later, Mr. Raphael followed her home to explain that money to the tune of about N80,000 was not remitted and that my sister was the cashier and that, he could not reach the manager of the shop as his line was off and that was why he decided to interrogate my sister and in the process gave her a slap. When I asked my sister what had happened she explained that, the manager of the shop by name Barnabas had mandated a regular customer who had exhausted his money in loosing games stake on credit and the customer had lost the games also. She explained further that, she was severely beaten by Mr. Raphael and that a neighbor had rescued her after much pleading.

I allowed Mr. Raphael go that, we'd look into the issue by break of day. About 1am into that night, my sister could not sleep and started crying. We woke up to discover that her whole body was swollen, as she complained of aches all around her body. We rushed her to the hospital where she has been hospitalized till date for internal bleeding, muscle cramps, bruises and severe body aches. That night when she came with Mr. Raphael, she tried to conceal her ordeal until she couldn't help herself in the middle of the night.

On what transpired at the shop, it was explained that a reputable customer of the bet9ja shop, Mr. Friday Usman, who is known to invest huge amounts of money into betting came on the said day and played a game with N10,000 and won a total of N58,000 which he later invested into betting but lost all the money. For his reputation of staking huge sums of money therefore, the Manager of the shop, Mr. Barnabas allowed him bet on credit to the tune of almost N80,000 as he promised that he would leave the shop in company of the manager to claim the money from atm.

However, after leaving the shop, he convinced Barnabas to return to the shop and he never returned. Barnabas who left in search of him since he knows his girlfriend's house did not return until closing hours and so, little Winifred had to close up. Sorrowfully Barnabas line was off and when the shop owner, Mr. Raphael Emmanuel came and couldn't reach his manager Barnabas and seeing the huge financial imbalances implied that, Barnabas had connived with the man in question to run with his money and so he brought his anger to bear on the helpless girl who was reachable at the moment.

The following day, Barnabas returned and couldn't find the man in question who is at large and can not even be seen at his workplace. At the moment, Mr. Raphael who was arrested by the Police Thunder Zone Unit is expected to be charged to court on Monday. However, Winifred's family is expressing concern that, with the high profile of visitors and relatives to Mr. Raphael, the case may be arm-twisted and buried. Equally, her elder brother Martins has lamented that, he has run short of resources to cater for the medication of his sister hence help isn't coming from any where.

While it is regrettable that, Mr. Emmanuel Raphael who is a visitor and has enjoyed relative peace in the pursuit of his business success would turn around to exert this tragedy on a little innocent girl who was acting under the directives of the manager of the shop. Winifred and her brother need assistance and they can be visited at the Private Ward 2 of Vision Hospital, Wadata or reached on mobile: 07062867711, 08030690779. They also wish that, relevant authorities and human right bodies will come to their aid to help ensure justice.

Report by Ukan KURUGH..