Devil Made Me Cut My Brother's Son's Hands With Blade

Ronke Olayinka is a 40-year-old petty trader and mother of three kids, excluding Abdullahi.
Though she told our correspondent that she has three kids, neighbours asid they are up to seven. The kids are said to be from different fathers. Stating her own side of the story, Olayinka said the boy was stubborn and she only wanted him to change. She said she never knew that the cuts would be so deep. She denied ever beating the boy, except for that fateful Sunday.

She said: “I’m a struggling widow. I have three kids. One is 15, the second is 12 and the third is 10. I’m a trader. I leave home in the morning and come back at night. Whenever I return, neighbours usually complain about Abdullahi; how he usually goes to different places to eat.
Sometimes, he would go with his friends to a place called Agbele-Kale to swim. He’s just stubborn and doesn’t listen! He’s my brother’s son. I’ve been taking care of since he was a baby.” Recalling the incident of that fateful Sunday that led to her inflicting blade cuts on the boy’s hands, Olayinka said Abdullahi was like someone without home training. She narrated: “He usually goes to parties to eat.

He was behaving like someone who doesn’t have parents or like someone who has no home training. When I returned on Saturday, neighbours said I should warn him. On Sunday, he went out again. Food was ready, but he was nowhere to be seen. I was angry.

I used the blade on his two hands. I never knew it would be that bad!” Asked why she used a blade instead of a cane on the boy, Olayinka said: “Anytime I want to beat him, he would run away, forcing me to chase him. But what happened that day was the work of the devil. Yes, I poured pepper on the wounds. I only wanted to make him to be a good boy.”

Kneeling and crying profusely, Olayinka begged the police at Oke-Odo Police Station to give her a second chance. But the Divisional Police Officer, Mr. Monday Agbonika, said she would be charged to court, to serve as deterrent to other women who abuse children under their care.