Following discrepancy discovered in the story of an amputee sachet water hawker, Mary Daniels, 26, who recently received donations from Nigerians due to her situation, Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has directed the relevant ministry to hand over the matter to the state Police Command for further investigation.
Daniels’ viral story on social media had elicited global sympathy and concern from Nigerians.
When contacted for comments, the state Commissioner for information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, could not respond to calls and text messages sent to his mobile phone at press time.
However, a government source who preferred anonymity, confirmed the development to Vanguard, saying that Governor Sanwo-Olu gave the directive on Wednesday after it was discovered that Daniels’ story was staged and untrue after all.
The cat was let out of the bag when it was discovered that the story must have been fabricated following strange calls that Daniels had continued receiving from a team who were instrumental to her fortune in Lagos.
Sequel to the discovery, it was gathered that the governor directed that a Kogi traditional leader in Lagos, a Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO), Irede foundation, should further investigate the story and keep a tap on her movements.
Meanwhile, the Office of Special Adviser on Civic Engagement to Lagos State Governor had been directed by the governor to handle the case and follow it to the latter.
Subsequently, Daniels was handed over to the traditional leader and other agencies on Wednesday with about N25 million in her private account.
It was discovered that the stories earlier narrated by the amputee were conflicting coupled with strange calls coming from people suspected to be those that she worked for before her discovery.
The actions of the state government became necessary after investigations revealed that the amputee was not telling a true story about herself and the life she had been living before helps from the public and government intervention came to her way.
The development came to light when some of the people Daniels had a deal started calling repeatedly, demanding for their own share of the donations Daniels had received from the public or else they would expose her.
It was also discovered that Daniel claims that she was an orphan and that the parents died during an accident were untrue, while her situations in Oshodi were allegedly staged.
The source narrated that during interrogations, it was discovered that the amputee’s father was still alive contrary to Daniel’s initial claim that she lost both parents during an accident several years back.
Also after several hours of investigation into her story, the official added that it was discovered that the sachet water hawker’s mother truly died but was not through an auto crash as earlier narrated by Daniel after arriving Oshodi where she was discovered last month.
Meanwhile, efforts are on to contact the state police command for confirmation at press time.
