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She was kept in isolation and under lock and key by her own parents for so long and one would wonder why her own parents would lock her up in such a despicable place. The condition of her imprisonment is despicable and her state of health on discovery is unbecoming. The grubby dungeon,  located in front of her family apartment, was built with carton board and roofing sheets ostensibly to ward off the elements and gave it the semblance of a dwelling place. The building is less than four feet high and it could be mistaken for cage for dog.

 Sadly, this had been the abode of 16-year-old Blessing Olokumo in the last two and a  half years. Blessing, a twin, whose little frame betrays her age, cuts the picture of neglect and abandonment. Her parents might have locked her up in the cage which had  no window to keep her away from the public out of shame or their desire for her death.

Blessing’s condition is pathetic. Unlike her twin sister in senior secondary school class 2, Blessing never had the opportunity of seeing the four walls of a school due to her health challenge with the result that she could only communicate in Isoko, her mother’s native dialect.

Though the father is an indigene of Ayibabiri community in Kolokuma-Opokuma local government area of Bayelsa State, the mother's name is Binaese and she is from Igbide in Isoko South local government area of Delta. It was learnt that though Blessing’s was born normal, her problem started about 13 years ago when she was aged three in Delta State. She was said to have to have suffered from convulsion, which was not properly taken care of by her parents probably due to ignorance. The father was then said to have acted against doctor’s advice by forcefully taking her away from the hospital where she receiving treatment because he could not afford the N15,000 medical bill.

The convulsion was said to have  worsened over time due to poor medical attention leading to her abnormal behaviour. The ailment is also believed to be responsible for her retarded growth when compared to her twin sister, a beautifully grown girl. Although physically challenged kids like her deserve decent life, love and adequate medical attention, in her case she was treated cruelly;  locked up in a cage lacking window for proper ventilation and light.

The place where she was confined for almost three years by her father shares fence with a medical facility where she is now receiving treatment. Co-tenants, who could have notified the authorities on the girl’s plight,  looked the way ostensibly for fear of incurring the wrath of her father whose relation, it was learnt, owned the house they are living in. Succour however came her way last weekend when a concerned native of Okolobiri alerted the group, the Mary Slessor Twin Foundation, which rescued her and took her to the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri where she is receiving treatment. It was discovered that a rubber carpet had been laid on the bare floor with a view to making it look a little decent due to the public interest generated after her predicament was reported.