A woman in Lagos has lost a pregnancy of 7 months after allegedly being kicked in the stomach.
Mrs. Alexandra Ossai, 34, was said to have been kicked by her
Lebanese boss, one Kaveh Noine, resulting in the death of her baby.
Mrs. Ossai got into a disagreement with her boss and according to her
he proceeded to verbally and then physically abuse her. The kick to her
belly was said to have damaged her placenta and her unborn baby’s face.
Currently at a private hospital in the Fagba area of
Lagos State, Ossai had to have an emergency surgery four days after the
kick to save her life as the kick damaged her placenta.
Ossai, who until December 13, 2013, was a supervisor with a
Lebanese owned firm, Toppan Printing Company, alleged that Noine
assaulted her many times during her eight months stay at the company.
She said:
“I started working at Toppan in April. I earn N17,000 salary and work from Monday to Saturday.
Anytime Noine was annoyed, he would beat the person he was angry
with. Sometimes, he would throw whatever he can lay his hands on at the
person.
Prior to that incident, Noine had slapped me many times.
Noine had said he would hold me responsible for the shortcomings of
the people I supervised. As a result, I often assisted my subordinates
in their duties to make sure that Noine had nothing to complain about.”
However, Ossai said on December 12 2013, Noine had flown into a rage when he noticed something on the floor in her section.
“It was a container for a drug. That is what we do; we produce
packets for drugs and perfumes. So when Noine saw one of such packets on
the floor, he was so angry that he gave me a blow to the chest,” she
recalled.
She said Noine subsequently went into his office and typed a termination letter for Ossai, which she refused to sign.
Her refusal allegedly enraged him further and after verbally
abusing her, he was said to have told her that it was her last warning.
The following day, Ossai ran into Noine while coming from his
secretary’s office. Noine allegedly dragged Ossai back to the office and
called her a wicked woman.
Ossai said:
“He said I looked like a mad person. After abusing me, he hit me
on my neck twice. Then, without warning, he kicked my stomach with his
knee. Some co-workers were there but they did not intervene. I felt a
sharp pain in my stomach.”
The mother of one, whose younger brother and sister also worked
in the same company, said she prevailed on her siblings not to attack
Noine when they heard the news.
“I never for once told my husband what I was going through at
work. I didn’t want him to come and fight Noine. I pleaded with my
siblings not to fight,” Ossai said.
Although the pains eventually subsided after two days, it was
learnt that in the early hours of Monday, Decemeber 16, 2013, Ossai
began to bleed.
She was rushed to a private clinic at Fagba.
She was told that her placenta had been damaged as a result of the
kick and that she had to undergo emergency surgery to save her life.
She said:
“I didn’t know that my baby had died until two days after the surgery. I was told my baby lost his face too due to the kick.”
She said a report was made at the Area F police command the following day by her aunt, Mrs. Olabisi Jaiyeoba.
Jaiyeoba said:
“When Ossai’s husband and I were refused entry into the company,
we went to report to the police. They accompanied us there and even had
to force their way in.
The administrative manager lied that Noine had travelled out of the
country. But as of that Tuesday, he was still in the country.
It was later that we learned that he travelled last Friday.”
Efforts to get a response from the Deputy Manager of Toppan
printing Company, Mr. Abass Al-Souki, proved abortive as his phone
number indicated that it was unreachable.
However, the admin manager, who declined to identify herself, said that the factory was closed for the Christmas holidays.
She said:
“We closed for the holidays last Friday and would reopen on
January 8 2013. I would not like to speak on that matter because it is
already with the police. Also our company lawyer is on it. You can only
get across to our management in January 2014.”
Legal counsel for Toppan, Mrs. Nnebe, said that she could not comment on the matter.
She said:
“It would be best if you wait for the police to conclude their
investigation. Ossai has only made an allegation. Let the police finish
their investigation and then we would give our response.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Ngozi Braide, said:
“The incident which occurred on Thursday was not reported to the
police until Tuesday. It took about five days before it was reported. So
when the police arrived at the suspect’s workplace, they were informed
that he had travelled.
It took a long time for the complainant to report the matter. But we are investigating.
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Tuesday, December 24, 2013
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