Mary Daniel, the now-viral Lagos amputee hawker, whose story has continued to fetch her massive goodwill from Nigerians, lied to evoke sympathy, SKYTREND NEWS can exclusively report.
The 27-year-old lady has been in the public eye ever since she was spotted hawking sachet water in the Oshodi area of the state despite her condition.
In a blink, she had become a sensation on social media platforms. During several interviews, Mary had claimed that her leg was amputated after a ghastly car accident which claimed the lives of her parents when she was young.
She had also alleged that the development forced her to drop out of school to enable her to provide for her baby as well as her aged grandmother.
Mary Daniel when she was living with Regina, her aunt, in Abuja
Expectedly, many Nigerians fell for her story — unknown to them that she was not telling the truth.
Her plight had moved some Nigerians to support her through donations while the state government also offered her temporary accommodation.
As of the time of this report, SKYTREND NEWS understands that she has received a donation of N25 million.
But an investigation by this newspaper showed that the account she gave the public of herself is laced with falsehood.
When Journalists visited her family in Abuja, it was revealed that her name is Ojonuwa Onu, not Mary Daniel, as she claimed.
Blessing Adedamola, her aunt, told Journalists that Mary’s claim that she has no family to cater for her was a lie.
Adedamola also explained that she was staying with Juni Abu, her grandmother, in the village when she suddenly fled home with her whereabouts unknown thereafter.
She said prior to the incident, Abu, who is her own mother, had called severally to complain about Mary’s attitude, describing her as “stubborn”.
“She (Mary) just told mama that she was going to the next village to buy something which is like N50 taxi from here and is also trekkable. She had one wrapper and a shirt on then and that was it,” she said.
“Mama didn’t see her anymore and she started calling us thereafter. But before then, mama had been calling to report that she did this and that. So, I told her that Mary must have been craving for such freedom to run away. You can’t control her because she is stubborn to be sincere. So, she woke up one day and mama didn’t see her again.”
Adedamola also dismissed Mary’s claim that she was married off at a young age, noting that the family only got to know she was pregnant when she put to bed.
“There is this trending news that mama was the one who gave her to a husband.
But she (mama) is not aware of anything that happened. When we learned she was in Onitsha and then Asaba, we were really angry because of the kind of life she was living and all she was doing,” she added.
Watch the exclusive video below:
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