The family of a teenage girl in Ebonyi State needs to deposit N2.5 million in a hospital before it carries out surgery on her after a brutal sexual and physical assault left her with grave injuries.

Happiness Vangervihi, the victim’s sister, has detailed how her 14-year-old younger sister bled through her ears on Wednesday after a 15-year-old classmate brutally attacked her in their Abakaliki home.

Vangervihi told EQ that the 15-year-old male classmate of her younger sister broke into their house around 5 am, sexually assaulted and hit her sister with a pestle.

The culprit also lived in the same military barracks as her family.

Vangervihi told EQ that her family had only been able to raise N1 million out of the N2.5 million they were to deposit for surgery for their daughter, who sustained a brain injury in the attack, on Sunday.

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“It happened at home, at the military cantonment in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. She was inside the house, sleeping around 5 am when the boy broke into the house. That’s where we stay. They just finished writing junior WAEC,” Vangervihi disclosed in a phone conversation with EQ on Sunday.

Vangervihi said that she was not at home on the morning of the incident because she had gone to work the previous day and was to return home on Thursday.

“We were just the only ones together at home. My dad, a soldier in the northeast, was not around. And our mom had travelled too. It was just my sister and me. But I was on a three-day shift from Tuesday to Thursday,” she explained.

“Before I left for work on Tuesday morning, I asked her to follow me to my workplace but she said she would wait until after my next shift and follow me then. Meanwhile, our elder sister in school had called to say she was coming home on Tuesday. But she could not travel home again that day.”

Happiness’ younger sister in the hospital

‘SHE BLED THROUGH HER EARS FOR THE WHOLE OF WEDNESDAY’

Vangervihi mentioned that she got a call from a neighbour around 6 am on Wednesday.

When she answered, she heard her sister’s ears bled throughout that day.

“They said that my sister was bleeding from her ears, that somebody hit her with a pestle, and they were rushing her to Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki (FETHA),” Vangervihi told EQ.

“My sister was inside the ambulance when I got to FETHA, and they had fixed an oxygen (Sic) on her. She was unconscious and bleeding through her ears. For the whole of Wednesday, the blood did not stop.

“We were asked to do an X-ray of the ears. We did a scan, and they said she was bleeding inside the brain. That’s why the blood was coming out.”

According to Vangervihi, FETHA said that her sister needed an emergency operation but they would not be able to do it because their doctors were on strike.

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“That Wednesday night, around 11 pm, we went to Enugu State. We got to Paulsonic Hospital Enugu around 12:30 pm,” Vangervihi said.

“Before then, we had checked other hospitals but the prices were too high. So, we had to take her to this hospital where they said we should deposit N2.5 million for the operation.”

EQ gathered that Vangervihi’s younger sister has been receiving treatment in Enugu, though the operation is yet to be performed. “We have not been able to deposit the money they asked for. As of Sunday afternoon, we have raised N1 million and we are left with N1.5 million.”

When asked if there were any suspicious activities or a quarrel between her sister and the perpetrator, Vangervihi said, “not any that I know of”.

‘THEY FOUND HIM INSIDE A WATER DRUM’

As for the classmate who attacked Vangervihi’s sister, EQ gathered that he’s being held in a military guardroom in Abakaliki.

The boy was found hiding inside a water drum in their bathroom and was taken to the guardroom from there.

“They saw him inside the house, in the bathroom. He entered inside one of our water drums and covered himself there. He was hiding there,” Vangervihi shared.

“His stepmum was with us on Wednesday and only left yesterday. Our main focus is not on the boy right now but on getting medical help for my sister. She’s responding to treatment according to the doctor. At least, she has opened her eyes,” noted the elder sister.

The family is still soliciting funds for the teenager’s treatment. EQ saw an X post asking for donations on Sunday.
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