This is the sad, touching story of a young girl who simply identified herself as Ruffia. According to the girl who could barely communicate
Ruffia...abused and abandoned at a refuse dump
audibly, she was born a normal child, but that is not the case today as she woke up one day to discover she was suffering from Down Syndrome. She said her present predicament was caused by her father, whose identity and location she was unable to give.
Despite her pathetic condition, some unscrupulous and unknown individuals still conspired to rape her at a refuse dump where she was staying at Federal Second Gate Bus-stop, Ijanikin, along the Lagos- Badagry expressway. She became pregnant as a result of this sexual assault.
Ruffia told Vanguard Metro that her daddy brought her there because she couldn’t walk. “He brought me here in the afternoon; three of them brought me here,” Ruffia said, adding that she was taken somewhere first before she was later dumped at the Second Gate.
An eye witness, who identified himself as Mr Biodun Arowolo , said that the little he knew about Ruffia is that about four months ago, somebody brought her and dumped her at Adio Bus-stop before they later brought her to the Federal Second Gate.
“She was lying down at the front of our gate for about two weeks and people have been rendering help to her in terms of feeding,” he said. Arowolo told Vanguard Metro that the Federal Second Gate community chairman, Mr Onolapo, sent a message to one Akolawole Olawuyi, to come and pick up the girl. “I also learnt that they sent messages to the motherless babies home to come and pick her. But none of them responded. However, the community people have taken it upon themselves to be feeding her morning , afternoon and evening,” he informed.
Arowolo continued: “According to those people who spoke to her, she said some of her family members dumped her here. I have never heard her talk before, but there is a security man here that talks to her. From all indications, it seems as if they used her for rituals and now came to dump her. But all I know is that the people of this community are taking good care of her”.
Residents of Federal Second Gate Ijaniki told Vanguard Metro that they woke up one morning to find a girl at the refuse dump. They, at first, thought she was a mad person. One of the residents, who had been taking care of the girl, Mr Rasaki Isiaka, told Vanguard Metro that he woke up one morning in December 2010 and saw her at Alasia Bus-stop area of Ijanikin at a refuse dump.
Isiaka said he thought initially that she was a mad person until he took a closer look at the girl.
He noted that she was unable to move and he was wondering how she got there. After three days, Isiaka said he was surprised to see her at the side of the bridge and also in their community.
Isiaka who has since been providing for her, said he and the people of the community have been giving her money to buy food and people some times give her packaged food, mat and blankets to cover her self.
“I saw that she has moved to the side of the bridge and later moved into the community. So when I was coming from the toilet, I moved close and saw her; it was in the presence of one of my friends, who is a commercial motorcyclist named Jonah. I moved close to her and asked her what her name was. She said Ruffia in a voice that I had difficulty hearing because she could hardly talk. I asked after her parents, she said her father was alive, while her mother was dead. On her siblings, she said she doesn’t know them, but that they live somewhere in Lagos. She equally could not tell where her house of residence was located.
“So I later went to call one of our Alfas in the central mosque in this our community. I asked him to pray over a bowl of water; I took the water after the prayers and bathed her on that day. While I was doing this, people gave me some money to assist in her upkeep. I went to buy clothes and food for her with the money. After that, she regained some strenght and began to talk gradually.
“She even went as far as playing with some little children that came around. The other day, some people saw her, while I was at a party and said a vehicle ran over her legs. When I got back, I asked her what happened to her. She was only able to demonstrate by gesticulation that a vehicle indeed ran over her legs”.
Isiaka further told Vanguard Metro that although Ruffia can still not stand and walk, but that whenever he bathes her and stretches her legs, they get straightened.
Source : www.vanguardngr.com
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