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10th Edition

John Blessing

Social
Bravery

12 Years

Female

Ogun State

12 YEAR OLD GIRL ADVOCATES AGAINST CHILD ABUSE

John Blessing is a teenager, the remaining child living with her mother since her elder sister was gang raped to death. She hails from Ifo, Ogun State. The story has it that her father abandoned the family when Blessing was just 2 years old for another woman who promised him better conditions of living. Furthermore, two years ago, Blessing’s elder sister met with a fatal lot in the hands of miscreants who raped her to death. Unfortunately, Blessing and her mother never got justice, as the criminals who brutally snuffed life out of her only sister were never caught while the security operatives did little or nothing to soothe their pains. The incident left a bad memory on Blessing and her mother, however there was nothing much they could do. Nonetheless, the ordeal, since losing both her sister and father, gave the young girl a new drive. Blessing started gathering her peers in her neighbourhood to tell them about the need to be more cautious and careful about the evil pervading the land and targeting innocent and naïve young girls. This is how Blessing started her advocacy against child abuse. She believed her sister died because her parents couldn’t afford to provide them with their basic needs. For this reason, her late sister had to become a street hawker, which made her an easy target to criminals lurking around to rape little girls. Blessing took her advocacy a step further when she reached out to the local government chairman to urge him in taking bold steps to stem the menace of juvenile street hawking.