An Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Essien Udim Local Government Area has sentenced a 36-year-old mother of four, Uwakmfon Isaac Jonah, to life imprisonment for the attempted murder of a 12-year-old girl.
Justice Winifred Effiong delivered the judgment on Thursday, June 25, after finding the hairdresser and divorcee guilty of 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.
According to court proceedings, the incident occurred when the young victim accompanied her mother, a pepper trader, to the market to help hawk fresh pepper.
The prosecution told the court that Jonah approached the child under the guise of buying pepper and convinced her to accompany her into a nearby bush, claiming an elderly customer wanted to make a purchase but was unable to walk to the market.
The woman allegedly told the child that the customer was working on a nearby waterleaf farm and would pay for the pepper there.
Recalling the terrifying experience before the court, the victim said she initially trusted the woman because she appeared respectable and was neatly dressed.
"I followed the lady because she put on a nice dress. Reaching the road to the bush, I told her that the road was too far and I couldn't continue. She held me, and when I tried to run, she chased me. I fell inside the bush, and she tied my cloth around my mouth so I couldn't shout for help," the girl testified.
She further narrated that the woman brought out a knife from her bag and slashed her eyebrow and 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 both the defendant's statement and the victim's statement as evidence.
While testifying in her defence, Jonah admitted taking the child from the market into the bush but denied attacking her. She claimed she handed the girl over to another woman who was allegedly cultivating waterleaf nearby.
However, Justice Effiong dismissed the defence as lacking credibility, noting that the defendant failed to provide the identity, address, or any description of the alleged woman.
The judge held that the prosecution successfully proved beyond reasonable doubt that Jonah lured the child into the bush, where she sustained severe injuries.
The court also relied on the defendant's admission that she took the victim into the bush, the child's consistent testimony, her injuries, and her immediate identification of the defendant while receiving treatment at Saint Mary's Hospital, Urua Akpan.
Justice Effiong ruled that the nature of the attack clearly showed 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 judge held.
The court concluded that the prosecution had established all the elements of attempted murder beyond reasonable doubt.
Following the conviction, defence counsel appealed for leniency and urged the court to grant the convict a second chance.
However, Justice Effiong ruled that the law prescribes a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for attempted murder and that the court had no discretion to impose a lesser punishment.
"This court lacks the jurisdiction to reduce the sentence prescribed by law. The defendant, Uwakmfon Isaac Jonah, is hereby sentenced to confinement for life," the judge declared.
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