26-year-old girl rescued from seven years cocaine addiction

• Foundation builds classrooms for pupils walking 10km to school
The Senior Pastor of House of Freedom, Dr. Tony Rapu, and his team visited Ipodo, a notorious street in Ikeja, Lagos State recently and rescued 26-year-old Lizzy, who has taken to begging, hard drugs and prostitution as means of survival.

The girl, who attended two prestigious schools in Lagos, Caleb Nursery and Primary School as well as Vivian Fowler Secondary School, Billingsway, Oregun, and has been suffering from drug addiction for seven years, shared a bit of her story in a now viral video.

Lizzy said her ex-boyfriend introduced her to smoking of weed. He, thereafter, told her he had been mixing her wraps up with cocaine. “I couldn’t visit any rehabilitation centre because I thought it wouldn’t help. I started with weed smoking, then one day, my boyfriend told me he had been adding cocaine and I was surprised. I asked him why he would do such without my consent, but it wasn’t long before I got addicted to it. It became so critical that I had to take to begging during the day and prostitution at night.”

Rapu said: “We picked up Lizzy at the weekend at the joint she frequented in Ikeja and rescued her from the clutches of her captors; the drug sellers and pimps who feed her drug habit from the proceeds of prostitution and other vices.

“Lizzy told us about her upbringing, her addiction to crack cocaine and the depraved nightlife she lived to make money to pay the drug dealers. She is currently undergoing her first stage of detox and rehabilitation in the long journey out of addiction. We hope and pray she returns to a normal and productive life afterwards.”

Meanwhile, management of Vivian Fowler, in reaction to the incident, said that from its investigation, it has no record of any Lizzy as claimed, from the inception of the school till date.

The school, however, said it would work alongside Freedom Foundation to ensure the rehabilitation of Lizzy.

In another development, wife of the former governor of Lagos, Abimbola Fashola, founder of Bethesda Child Support Agency, Mrs. Nkoyo Rapu and a host of dignitaries, in a bid to encourage education in Ikota community, Ajah area of Lagos has commissioned classrooms for pupils in the community.

Pastor Tony Rapu, chairman of the foundation, encouraged Nigerians to show more care to the less privileged around them. He also expressed gratitude to all sponsors and supporters of the school project.

The building accommodates nursery, primary and junior secondary school with a population of 100 pupils. Titi Adewusi, the board chairman thanked Mrs. Rapu, for her passion that brought the dream to reality.

Victoria Friday, a pupil of Bethesday School, expressed gratitude to the foundation for the gesture. “I will read, study and obey all instructions,” she said.

Also, head of the school, Henry Ibu, revealed how the agency started. “In 2003, the NGO observed that a number of pupils in Ikota had zero interest in schooling due to the distance of the community school sited in about 10 kilometer away from the residential area. This was one of the reasons that led to the construction of this school.”