Lagos Government has frozen the bank account of an amputee Mary Daniel, after it was discovered she lied to the public to raise N25 million in donations.
Mary hawked ‘sachet water’ in Oshodi and peddled the tale that she lost a leg in an accident that killed all passengers, including her parents when she was a teenager.
She claimed she was an orphan with a baby and an aged grandmother to fend for.
She narrated how life dealt her several blows and she had to drop out of school and hit the streets to make ends meet.
Her story, which went viral attracted sympathy from Nigerians across the world.
Donations poured into her publicised bank account, with about N25m raised.
According to TheNation, her sudden wealth prompted the state government to immediately shelter her to prevent criminals from taking advantage of her.
But her story later turned out to a fabrication.
Mary, from Kogi state is not an orphan. Her father is alive and she lost her leg at birth.
It was gathered Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu immediately handed her over to officials of the social welfare for investigation following revelations she lied.
Commissioner of Police Hakeem Odumosu said the state government has prevented 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 donations,” Odumosu explained.
The Lagos State Government has denied it seized the money donated to Mary Daniel.
Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso said government has no plan to deny Daniel of her money.
Omotoso made the rebuttal while answering questions on Star FM Thursday morning.
According to him, what government did was to ensure that she was not molested and that she is safe to do whatever she intended to do with the money raised for her.