Idongesit Mishael, Uyo

An Akwa Ibom State High Court has sentenced a 36-year-old woman, Uwakmfon Isaac Jonah, to life imprisonment after finding that she deliberately lured an 11-year-old girl into a bush, slashed her neck, injured one of her eyes and left her for dead.

Delivering judgment in Essien Udim on Thursday, Justice Winifred Effiong ruled that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the attack was a calculated attempt to kill the child, describing the defendant’s explanation as unbelievable and unsupported by evidence.

The convict was found guilty 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 on July 20, 2023, where she was hawking fresh pepper when the defendant approached her under the pretence of buying the commodity.

According to the prosecution, the woman persuaded the child to accompany her to a nearby bush, claiming an elderly customer wanted to buy pepper but was unable to walk to the market.

The victim, whose statement was admitted in evidence, told the court that she became suspicious when the journey became longer than expected and attempted to turn back.

She said the defendant grabbed her, tied her mouth with a piece of cloth to prevent her from screaming, pulled out a knife from her bag and inflicted deep cuts on her neck and left eye before fleeing the scene.

“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, managed to return to the market and was reunited with her mother before she was rushed to St. Mary’s Hospital, Urua Akpan, for treatment.

During the trial, the prosecution called three witnesses and tendered the statements of both the victim and the defendant as exhibits.

Although the defendant admitted taking the child from the market into the bush, she denied attacking her, insisting she handed the girl over to another woman allegedly working on a nearby waterleaf farm.

Justice Effiong dismissed the defence, noting that the defendant could neither identify nor provide any details of the alleged woman.

The judge held that the victim’s testimony was direct, credible and corroborated by the defendant’s own admission, the nature of the injuries sustained and the child’s immediate identification of her while receiving treatment.

“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,” Justice Effiong held.

The court ruled that the prosecution had established all the ingredients of attempted murder beyond reasonable doubt.

Although defence counsel pleaded for leniency, Justice Effiong held that life imprisonment is the mandatory punishment prescribed under Section 276 of the Criminal Code.

“This court lacks the jurisdiction to reduce the sentence prescribed by law,” the judge said before sentencing the defendant to life imprisonment.