Alexandra Ossai … Photo Credit: Linda Ikeji Blog
The health of Alexandra Ossai, the woman who was allegedly physically assaulted by her Lebanese boss causing her to lose her seven months old pregnancy has drastically deteriorated to the extent that her doctor has advised that she gets an immediate blood transfusion to save her life, PREMIUM TIMES has been told.
“I just finished talking with the surgeon that did the emergency surgery and he said her condition has worsen sharply since yesterday,” said Courage Erhuen, Mrs. Ossai’s lawyer.
“Her stitches were removed today but the doctor said she is very weak and under serious emotional trauma. He said she needs immediate blood transfusion or else her situation would get worse,” Mr. Erhuen added.
According to Mr. Erhuen, her condition has got so bad that she can hardly talk without feeling intense pain.
On December 13, Kaveh Noine, her manager at a Lebanese owned printing firm, Toppan Printing Company, allegedly assaulted her for not properly discarding a used carton.
The alleged assault was so vicious that it was said to have broken her placenta and damaged the face of her seven months old foetus. She underwent an emergency surgery to remove the foetus.
Mrs. Ossai may not get this life saving treatment if she does not get financial assistance. In fact, she is yet to pay the hospital bill for the emergency surgery done on her two weeks ago. Most of her other bills since the incident has been covered by Mr. Erhuen.
Mrs. Ossai earned a paltry N12,000 salary from her place of work. On Saturday when PREMIUM TIMES visited the hospital she hasn’t eaten any food by 2.30 p.m.
Despite the order from President Goodluck Jonathan, who got interested in the case after the news of her maltreatment went viral on social media, that top members of his cabinet should supervise the investigation and provide support for Mrs. Ossai, she is yet to receive any help whatsoever.
Also, on Saturday, relatives of Mrs Ossai expressed concern that the police might be surreptitiously working to exonerate Mr. Noine and his company, Toppan.
However, the police have denied this saying it is doing everything to properly investigate the matter.
The Lagos State Police Commissioner, Umar Tanko, has called a meeting between representatives of Mrs. Ossai and Toppan tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.
Meanwhile, Mr. Erhuen has concluded plans to institute a civil action in court against Mr. Noine and Toppan on Monday pending the outcome of the police investigation.
How Nigeria Police is jeopardising case of pregnant woman assaulted by Lebanese boss
Alexandra Ossai … Photo Credit: Linda Ikeji Blog
There are clear indications that police
officers are working to undermine investigation into the case of
Alexandra Ossai, the woman who was allegedly kicked in the stomach by
her Lebanese manager, Kaveh Noine, causing her to lose her seven months
old pregnancy.
When PREMIUM TIMES visited the Gracious
Mercy Hospital in the Fagba area of Lagos, where she is currently
receiving treatment, Saturday afternoon, plain cloth policemen were seen
prompting the tired-looking and agonising woman to make statements,
ignoring the concern from her lawyer that she is not in the right state
of mind and too physically battered to talk.
Mrs. Ossai, 34, was a supervisor at a
Lebanese owned printing firm, Toppan printing Company, where she earned a
paltry N12,000 monthly salary.
On December 13, Mr. Noine allegedly
assaulted her for not properly discarding a used carton. The alleged
assault was so vicious that it was said to have broken her placenta and
damaged the face of her seven months old foetus. She underwent an
emergency surgery to remove the foetus.
The case attracted a lot of buzz on
social media following speculations that the police, who were called to
investigate the matter, ironically helped the accused to escape through
the backdoor of the company. PREMIUM TIMES is unable to verify that
allegation.
Muddling-up the investigation
PREMIUM TIMES observed that the police
investigation seems uncoordinated with detectives from the Area F
command and the Police X-squad working at cross-purposes. Mrs. Ossai’s
relatives are suspicious that investigators from X-squad are trying very
hard to exonerate Mr. Noine and his company, Toppan.
In fact, the original officer from Area
F, simple identified as Jimi, has been detained for three days after
officials of Toppan accused him of collecting bribe from Mrs. Ossai to
portray the case in her favour.
He tearfully denied ever collecting money from Mrs Ossai.
“I did not know the complainant nor the
suspect. All I did was to state the fact of the case. These people are
just using their influence to punish me for saying the truth,” he was
overheard telling a relative of Mrs Ossai in Yoruba.
The frail-looking Mrs Ossai, who is in
need of better medical attention claimed she was ordered to report at
the Glorious Mercy Hospital by the policemen to write a statement who
ignored all her pleas of being too weak to do so. She also claimed that
officers were prompting her on what to write in her statement.
“I don’t know if that was right but they
were telling me what to write. They also ordered me to disclose my
mother’s address but I refused to do so for my safety,” she said.
“She was in a lot of pain when giving her statement,” said Courage Erhuen, Mrs Ossai’s Lawyer.
“After writing a sentence she will stop
for several minutes before continuing. This is a person that just came
out of surgery two weeks ago. I told them (the police) not to force her
to give the statement but they said they have to do their job,” he
added.
Mrs Ossai has been staying at her mother’s after the emergency surgery.
Despite agreeing to treat her without
asking for a deposit as commonly done by hospitals in the country, she
feared the police might intimidate the doctor to issue a report that
does not state the true details of the injuries she suffered.
Her fears may not be unfounded.
Two weeks after the emergency surgery,
the hospital is yet to issue a medical report. Shehu Abdulkareem, the
doctor of the clinic said the medical report would be ready when the
surgeon who conducted the emergency surgery returned from his trip
before the end of the year.
“With what I’ve seen so far, I’m afraid
that the investigation might be jeopardised. In this country you don’t
trust the police. If care is not taken all the evidences might be swept
under the carpet. It is glaring that the medical doctor is afraid to say
something about the medical report, which is a key evidence for us to
pursue this case,” Mr. Erhuen said.
But the Lagos police spokesperson, Ngozi Braid, denied the police was plotting to jeorpadize the case.
“The police will never leave any stone
unturned in making sure that justice is achieved,” Ms. Braid said, in
response to an enquiry by PREMIUM TIMES. “The Lebanese has been arrested
since Friday and is still in police custody. Meanwhile, investigations
are still ongoing.”
A hungry victim
Throughout the encounter with the police
at the hospital, Mrs Ossai was in immense pain. She talks in whispers
with a permanent grimace plastered on her face as she tried to endure
the pangs of pains biting from the suture at her torso. At about 2.20
p.m., she complained of hunger stating she had not eaten all day.
She also appears to be in need of better
medical attention as the Grace hospital is ill equipped to care for
her. After waiting for more than an hour for her prescription all she
got were some yellow paracetamol capsules.
“I have been buying my medicine myself since after the surgery,” she said. “I need help and nobody seems to care about me.”
Frustrated at the questioning from the investigating officer, she broke down after a while.
“I leave everything to God if the Police
choose not to do the right thing. But as long as God lives, Kaveh’s
offspring will end up in canals just like my son,” she said, sobbing.
Contradictory arrest history
The police claim Mr. Noine is now in their custody after speculations he fled the country.
But the details of Mr. Noine’s arrest is
also shrouded in controversy. The Punch newspaper quoted the
spokesperson of the Lagos Police command, Ngozi Braid, as saying Mr.
Noine was arrested in Kano where he fled to after the incident.
“In the course of our investigation, we
discovered that Noine was still in the country; he had fled to Kano. Our
men traced him to Kano, arrested him and have brought him back to
Lagos,” she was quoted as saying.
But an investigating officer from the
police’s X-squad in Lagos told PREMIUM TIMES at the hospital on
Saturday that Mr. Noine was not arrested in Kano. He said the suspect
surrendered himself at the state police command in company of the
company’s administration officer. The officer asked not to be named
because he was not authorised to divulge that information.
Following outcry on social media,
President Goodluck Jonathan ordered that the matter be properly
investigated and asked top cabinet ministers to oversee the
investigation.
President Jonathan was shocked by
reports of a pregnant Nigerian worker losing her baby after being beaten
up by her Lebanese employer,” the special adviser to the President on
Media, Reuben Abati, said. “The President has ordered the police,
ministers of Interior, Labour, Women Affairs, Health and the NHRC
[Nigerian Human Rights Commission] to investigate for sanctions and
remedial action.”
However, lawyers and relatives of Mrs.
Ossai believe with the manner the investigation is being handled, Mrs.
Ossai might not get justice for her alleged mistreatment.
A history of violence
People who know him say Mr. Noine, the alleged assailant is known for his anger management problems.
Mrs. Ossai allege he is infamous at the company for insulting and physically assaulting employees.
She said he is known for throwing
scissors and other sharp objects subordinates. According to her, he
treats his Nigerian subordinates with utter disdain, slapping and
kicking them at the slightest provocation.
She said this particular case wasn’t the
first time he assaulted her. Some months ago, she recalled, she punched
her in the chest for something so insignificant she couldn’t remember
what it was.
Officials of Toppan could not be reached for comment as the company is said to have closed for the festive season.
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