Fidelia Soriwei, Abuja
An Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Essien Udim has sentenced a 36-year-old mother of four, Uwakmfon Isaac Jonah, to life imprisonment for attempting to murder a 12-year-old girl after luring her from a local market into a bush.
Justice Winifred Effiong delivered the judgment on Thursday, holding that the prosecution proved the charge of attempted murder beyond reasonable doubt.
The court heard that the victim had accompanied her mother, a pepper trader, to the market and was selling fresh pepper when the convict approached her under the guise of making a purchase.
According to the child, the woman claimed an elderly customer wanted to buy pepper but could not come to the market and persuaded her to follow her to a nearby bush where payment would be made.
Recounting her ordeal before the court, the victim said: “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 brow and my right side of my neck and the lady ran away. The bush is close to Urua Akpan market in Essien Udim.”
Although Jonah admitted during her defence that she took the child from the market into the bush, she denied attacking her and claimed she handed the girl over to another woman allegedly working on a nearby farm.
The court, however, rejected the explanation, noting that the defendant failed to provide any details that could establish the identity of the alleged woman.
Justice Effiong held that the victim’s testimony was corroborated by the injuries she sustained, the defendant’s admission that she led the child into the bush, and the victim’s immediate identification of the accused while receiving treatment at Saint Mary’s Hospital, Urua Akpan.
“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.
The judge further ruled: “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 an appeal for leniency by defence counsel, the court ruled that the punishment prescribed under Section 276 of the Criminal Code of Akwa Ibom State for attempted murder is life imprisonment.
“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,” Justice Effiong held.
