A 46-year-old Lagos based housewife, Mercy Akinsode, is in trouble with the wrong side of the law after she was dragged to a Yaba Chief Magistrates' Court, for hasing out her 9-year-old niece, Damilola, from her home for allegedly stealing a piece of meat from the soup pot.
According to the prosecutor, ASP Godwin Anyanwu, Akinsode who lives with her family at Bajulaiye Road in Somolu area of the state, is facing a charge of child abandonment over what she did to her late sister's child over the allegation that the girl stole meat, at about 8 pm on June 5.
The woman reportedly brought the victim to Lagos from Ekiti State to stay with her and her family after her mother who was Akinsode's sister, died some years ago.
"The family nanny, one Esther, had brought some meat from the market and directed the victim to cook it. During the process, the nanny saw the victim eating part of the meat and reported her to her aunt.
The aunt, after her niece, drove her out of the house. However, a passer-by saw the victim wandering around in a market and took her to the Alade Police Station, Somolu."
But the victim said she did not steal the meat she was accused of:
"While I was cooking the meat, I brought out the leftovers of my lunch and was eating it when aunty Esther accused me of eating a piece of meat. She reported me to mummy, who threw me out in anger and said I should go and live anywhere."
The offence, which contravenes Section 247 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011, carries between one to three years in prison.