A woman, Blessing Asatu, is said to have absconded with the sum of N5 million meant for the surgery and recuperation of a boy who was born without genitals.
The Nation reports:
A 38 year-old woman, Charity Atoe has called on the police to help her unravel the location of a woman whom she alleged eloped with funds donated for the surgery of her three years old son, Timothy, who was born without genitals.
Charity who gave the name of the woman as Blessing Asatu said the total money donated was about N5m.
She was at the premises of the Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists to narrate her story.
Charity said doctors at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital demanded for N900,000 to perform a corrective surgery and that efforts to raise the money in Edo state failed which made her to go to Lagos State to seek for help.
It was on her way to Redeemed Christian Church of God that she claimed to have met Blessing who offered to help her by calling journalists who made her son’s plight public.
“My husband ran away after he has spent lots of money on this condition. He is a bricklayer and I used to sell. I have children for two husbands. Two girls for another man and two boys for this man that ran away. I have not seen my husband for the past eight months. I have been to several places and no help came. I have been looking for help for the past three years.
“After looking for help in Benin without any forthcoming. I decided to go to TB Joshua church. On my way, someboday said I should go to Redeemed Church. It was where I was to buy sachet water to drink that I met one woman by name Blessing Usatu.
“She promised to help me and within few minutes I saw pressmen asking me questions and the report was published the next day alongside my photographs. After two days, I started receiving calls from individuals across the world stating that they have paid money into an account provided alongside the story. I did not know that the account was in her name. She has a store at Ikeja opposite the Redeem church. We went to the hospital at Lagos and Dr. Bankole asked her to give me the money to go and do the operation in Benin but she refused. I used to sleep at Ijesha outside The Lord Chosen Church.
“Somebody brought N600,000 cash which I saw. I was given N100,000 and the woman said she would keep the rest. I later gave her N80,000 out of the N100,000. Whenever I am going for check-up, she would give me N2000. She said I should go and call my husband before she will give me the money. I went to the Zenith bank and the bank officials my picture was not in the account. I really need help. I do not know that the woman was out to dupe me. I have been calling her and her number is not connecting.”