Story from Kenneth AFOR, Lagos
A special needs boy, identified as Kelvin has died after ingesting a liquid suspected to be kerosene, which he obtained from the Jesus and Augusta Heritage bar located on Tonade Street in Ikeja, Lagos State.
It was learnt that whenever workers at the pub were not around, Kelvin usually assists the owner, identified as Aunty Augusta, to clean the tables customers use.
In a report by a man, Johnson who is also the landlord of the shops in the area, said that Kelvin volunteered to assist the owner of the bar in order to earn money for his upkeep due to lack of parental care, adding that the effect of the kerosene he allegedly consumed killed him.
“The boy had special needs; it was when I got to the shop this morning (Wednesday) that I heard that he had died. But there is a woman, who owns a pub in the area and always takes care of children,” Johnson said.
“This woman didn’t employ the boy (Kelvin) to work for him, but because his parents were not taking care of him, at times he used to assist the woman when her workers were not around.
“Yesterday (Tuesday), he saw a bottle with the content being kerosene, and he drank it. When people got to know, they quickly gave him palm oil and took care of him. He later stood up and was bathed.”
Kelvin’s condition worsened the following day till he died, and people in the area blamed Augusta for his death, according to Johnson.
He said, “He was still okay yesterday and this morning he started behaving somehow and the next thing we heard was that he died. So, people started pointing accusing fingers at the woman.
“The woman was just helping him; at times, the woman would give him money for transportation and feed him.
“From what we gathered, it was the boy who drank the kerosene himself; the kerosene is what they usually use to clean the tables to chase away flies when customers patronise them. And the boy usually helped the woman to clean the tables with the substance.
“The kerosene was kept somewhere and I don’t know what influenced him to drink it. The owner of the pub has informed her lawyers and they have gone to the police station,” he said.
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