How abused housemaid was rescued

But, they were stunned to see a little maid hawking vegetables who was afraid to go home because her guardian would beat her up for not selling all the vegetables.  The maid, Cheto Yohanna, folding her hands and legs, lay on a bare floor in front of a house within her neighbourhood as she slept. […]

But, they were stunned to see a little maid hawking vegetables who was afraid to go home because her guardian would beat her up for not selling all the vegetables.  
The maid, Cheto Yohanna, folding her hands and legs, lay on a bare floor in front of a house within her neighbourhood as she slept. She folded her hands inside her rag-like black top to evade the overbearing cold. Her skirt betrayed her as it was too skimpy to hide her dust-laden legs. A keen observer needed no soothsayer to know that the legs had trekked all the nooks and crannies of Abuja all day.
Trekking and doing what? A tray of ‘ugu’ vegetables by her side was a clue to the answer. On the tray were two bundles of the vegetables that have started withering. The loss of freshness could be due to exposure to sunlight all day.
Meanwhile, the resident who first discovered her said she snored while she slept. She looked too young to snore the manner in which she did. Apparently, she was deeply asleep, unaware or deliberately ignoring the dangers of the wild wicked world around her.
The girl, who said she is  eight years old, seemed to be having difficulty with breathing as whistling sounds could be heard as she breathed.
When residents finally woke her up, she scratched her red swollen eyes and a drop of tear ran down her cheek. The security light in front of the house exposed some marks of dried streaks of tears on her face. She must have been crying before she dozed off.
In the meantime, it took much persuasion from the residents before she finally narrated her ordeal in the hands of her guardians.
 “My aunty will beat me if I go home,” she cried. She spoke timidly in Hausa language. “She said I must sell everything before coming home. Two are left and I can’t go home. She will beat me.”
It sounded like a movie line. Aptly, it appeared like a scene in several Nollywood movies. But this was real!
Furthermore, the little Yohanna volunteered that she was an orphan. She said she was brought to Abuja from Kaduna as a housemaid and her guardian, instead of taking care of her as promised, turned her into a vegetable hawker.
To the shock of the people, she revealed that she has not been enrolled in school despite being with her guardians for the past two years, adding that their biological children attended good schools while she hawked.
The obviously shocked residents decided to accompany Yohanna home and plead with the guardian not to beat her up but convincing the girl to follow them was such a knot. Eventually, after much assurance that the residents would ensure that her guardian did not torture her, she yielded.
Back home, the guardian seemed relieved that her ward was home and thanked the good spirited residents who brought her home. She however denied maltreating the girl, adding that all her children also engaged in hawking.
“This girl is almost my last child,” the guardian said. “Why should I treat her bad? I treat her as I treat my other children.”
While the guardian spoke, her husband, who had gone to report to the community head about the missing of their ward, returned. He said he believed the girl stole his money the previous day and that was why she refused to come home after hawking.
“Last night, my money went missing and I gathered all of them and told them that something bad would happen to whoever stole the money next day. Knowing that she stole the money and afraid of what I said would  happen, she decided not to come home. Believe me, that is the truth,” the man explained.
Meanwhile, acting on a tipoff from one of the residents, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Women Trafficking and Child Labour Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF) learnt of the plight of Yohanna and took up the case.
Not long, WOTCLEF, backed with police from Apo Division, rescued the girl from the guardian and took her to their facility located on Gwarinpa for protection against abuse and to investigate on whether or not the girl was trafficked into the city.
The National Coordinator of WOTCLEF, Mrs. Veronica Umaru, said many people are not aware that when they bring children from villages to big cities to work and deprive them of their rights to education and freedom, it is a serious crime against the Child’s Right Act in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Umaru said her organisation would also report the case to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other related Matters (NAPTIP) for further investigation to determine if it is a case of human trafficking.
She explained further that, “There can be an element of trafficking in the girls’ case because the girl was brought from Kaduna and the people she is staying with are Igbo. I don’t know from what state. There is no any form of relationship at all between them and the girl said she has been with them for two years and she has never been to school. She looks very timid. She is afraid. She is not sure of what is going to happen to her.
“WOTCLEF intends to protect her, trace her roots and send her home if her people can sponsor her education.
“If her people cannot send her to school, we will find a way of sending her to school,” Umaru said.
In addition, at the moment, Yohanna has started attending skills acquisition and entrepreneurial classes held at the facility for children under the protection of the organisation.
 One thing is sure now, until Yohanna’s true root is established, the era of hawking vegetables and sleeping outside in the cold night is over.
“Well, I can see that she has a bright future. We will do our investigation and send her to school if we get the parents (relatives) and if they are willing for us to send her to school here. We will keep her here to go to school up to whatever level,” Umaru said.