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Idongesit Ashameri
An Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Essien Udim has sentenced a 36-year-old single mother of four, Uwakmfon Isaac Jonah, to life imprisonment for attempting to murder an 11-year-old girl after luring her from a market into a nearby bush and inflicting severe machete wounds on her neck and eye.
Justice Winifred Effiong, who delivered the judgment held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant deliberately attacked the child with the intention to kill her, convicting her 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 court heard that the victim had accompanied her mother, a pepper trader, to Urua Akpan Market in Essien Udim Local Government Area on July 20, 2023, where she was hawking fresh pepper when the convict approached her under the guise of buying the commodity.
According to the prosecution, the defendant deceived the child into following her into a nearby bush, claiming an elderly customer wanted to buy pepper but could not walk to the market.
The victim, in her statement admitted in evidence, told the court that she became suspicious after the journey into the bush became longer than expected and attempted to turn back.
She said the defendant then grabbed her, tied her mouth with a piece of cloth to stop her from screaming, pulled out a knife from her bag and slashed her neck and left eye before fleeing, believing she had left the child for dead.
“I followed the lady because she put on a nice dress. When I said I could not continue the journey, she held me. I tried to run but fell. She tied my mouth with my cloth so I could not shout for help, brought out a knife from her bag and cut my left eye and the right side of my neck before running away,” the child told the court.
The victim survived the attack, returned to the market, reunited with her mother and was rushed to St. Mary’s Hospital, Urua Akpan, where she received treatment.
During the trial, the prosecution called three witnesses and tendered both the victim’s and the defendant’s statements as exhibits.
Although the defendant admitted leading the child from the market into the bush, she denied attacking her, claiming she handed the girl over to another woman allegedly working on a nearby waterleaf farm.
She, however, failed to identify or provide any details about the alleged woman.
Rejecting the defence, Justice Effiong described the claim as unbelievable and unsupported by evidence.
The judge held that the child’s testimony was credible and corroborated by the defendant’s admission that she took the victim into the bush, the nature of the injuries sustained and the victim’s prompt identification of her while receiving treatment.
Justice Effiong ruled that the attack clearly showed an intention to kill.
“The defendant lured a vulnerable child away from the safety of a public market 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 judge held.
While defence counsel pleaded for mercy, Justice Effiong ruled that life imprisonment is the mandatory punishment prescribed under Section 276 of the Criminal Code for attempted murder.
“This court lacks the jurisdiction to reduce the sentence prescribed by law,” the judge declared before sentencing the convict to life imprisonment.
