The amputee hawker, who recently went viral, will not be receiving the N25 million donation from the Lagos State Government.
The twist surfaced after sources claimed there were some discrepancies found in her story. Hence, the Lagos State Government has decided to hold on to the donation made by the public for the amputee.
The amputee, Mary Daniels, was discovered by Nigerians in Oshodi where she hawks sachet water to survive on one leg, with the help of crutches.
According to her, she lost her leg in an accident which claimed her parents at a tender age, making her dropout of school to hustle for survival.
Mary Daniels said she has a child and a grandmother to take care of.
The single mother was recently adorned in beautiful gowns by popular stylist, Ceolumineeofficial of ANJY LUMINEE COUTURE.
Nigerians made a donation of N25m to her, which prompted the Lagos State Government to step in. According to them, the act was to prevent fraudsters taking advantage of her.
However, during their investigation, they found out some inconsistency with Daniels’ story, especially since some Kogi indigenes confirmed the lady’s father is still alive and that she has been amputated from birth and not as a result of an accident.
Mary Daniels was also reported to have been getting some threat calls from people she connived with to stage her story for her.
They were allegedly threatening her to pay up their agreed settlement or else they were going to reveal the truth.
Lagos State Governor, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu immediately handed the lady to the officials in the presence of the Kogi informants.
According to the commissioner, Hakeem Odumosu, Mary Daniels is not in their custody but that of social welfare.
He said, “The police were there but she was not handed over to us. She was handed over to the Social Welfare. There were irregularities and lies in the account of her life she gave.
“It was discovered that contrary to her claim that her parents died during an accident that left her amputated, her father is very much alive and that she was amputated from birth.
“It was also discovered that her presence in Oshodi was staged. Those working with her played on the intelligence of Nigerians to get donations for her.
“It came to light when the people started threatening her. She promised some N500,000 others different amounts and was planning to return to her home state when the information leaked.
“I had to attach some policemen to her to prevent any attack on her when she went to the bank. We suspected those people might follow her but everything went well as they were not seen.
“Presently, the state government is preventing her from accessing the money.
“The government does not want a situation where it will become a trend for people to cook up stories, manipulate the people to get donation.”
