Akwa Ibom State High Court, sitting in Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, South South Nigeria has sentenced a mother of four one Uwakmfon Jonah, to life imprisonment over the attempted murder of a 12-year-old girl.
The convict, a 36-year-old hairdresser and divorcee from Ikot Obong in Afaha Clan, Essien Udim Local Government Area, was sentenced on a one-count charge of attempted murder contrary to Section 276 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38 Vol. 2, Laws of Akwa Ibom State, 2022.
The presiding judge, Justice Winifred Effiong announced the sentence while delivering judgment on the suit on Thursday.
The court had heard that the victim had accompanied her mother, a pepper trader, to the market and was hawking fresh pepper when the defendant approached her under the pretext of purchasing the commodity.
She recounted how the defendant deceived her into following her into the bush.
“I followed the lady because she put on a nice dress. Reaching the road to the bush, I told her that the road is too far that I can’t continue the movement again. At that juncture, the lady held me and I ran from the bush. The lady ran after me and I fell inside the bush and the lady held my cloth and tied it around my mouth, so that is where I could not shout for help.
“She brought a knife from the bag and cut my left eye blow and my right side of my neck and the lady ran away. The bush is close to Urua Akpan market in Essien Udim.” the victim said
According to her, the woman told her that an elderly customer wanted to buy her pepper, but could not walk to the market and that she did not have enough money with her and persuaded her to accompany her to a nearby bush, where her mother was allegedly cultivating waterleaf and could make payment.
Trusting the woman, the young girl followed her into a nearby bush.
The child said she initially followed because the woman appeared respectable and was neatly dressed.
She said that when she became suspicious and attempted to turn back in the secluded area, the defendant attacked her, tied her mouth with a piece of cloth to prevent her from screaming, attempted to gouge out one of her eyes, and inflicted a deep cut on her neck before fleeing the scene.
The defendant was arraigned on August 12, 2024. The charge was read and interpreted to her in the Annang language and she pleaded not guilty.
During the trial, the prosecution called three witnesses and tendered the defendant’s statement and the victim’s statement as exhibits.
While testifying in her defence, Uwakmfon admitted approaching the child in the market and leading her into the bush but denied attacking the victim, claiming she handed the child over to another woman who was cultivating waterleaf nearby.
In her judgment, Justice Effiong held that the defendant failed to provide the identity, address, or any description of the alleged woman, describing the defendant’s claim as unsubstantiated and unbelievable
The Court held that the prosecution had successfully established that the defendant was the person who lured the victim away from the market and into the bush, adding that that several independent circumstances corroborated the victim’s testimony, including the injuries sustained by the child, the defendant’s admission that she took the victim into the bush and the immediate identification of the defendant by the victim while receiving treatment at Saint Mary’s Hospital, Urua Akpan.
The judge further observed that the defendant failed to provide any credible explanation regarding the alleged third party she claimed to have handed the child over to.
The Court further held that the circumstances clearly demonstrated an intention to kill.
“The defendant lured a vulnerable child away from the safety of a public market and into a secluded bush. The child sustained a deep cut to the neck and injuries to the eye.
“The neck is one of the most vital and vulnerable parts of the human body. A person who deliberately inflicts a deep cut on the neck of a helpless child must be presumed to intend the natural and probable consequences of such an act.
“The fact that the child survived does not negate the intention,” the Court held.
Justice Effiong said that the prosecution had proved all the ingredients of the offence beyond a reasonable doubt.
He held, “The evidence of PW2 was direct, credible and substantially corroborated by surrounding circumstances. The defendant’s own admission that she took the child from the market into the bush constitutes a powerful link in the chain of evidence.
“Her attempt to shift responsibility to an unnamed and unidentifiable third party is unbelievable and incapable of creating any reasonable doubt.”
Following the conviction, counsel for the defendant pleaded with the Court to temper justice with mercy and grant her a second chance.
However, Justice Effiong held that Section 276 of the Criminal Code prescribes a mandatory punishment of life imprisonment for attempted murder.
“This court lacks the jurisdiction to reduce the sentence prescribed by law. Based on the above, the defendant, Uwakmfon Isaac Jonah is hereby sentenced to confinement for life,” the Court held.
Source: Punch
