An Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Essien Udim Local Government Area has sentenced a 36-year-old woman, Uwakmfon Isaac Jonah, to life imprisonment for the attempted murder of a 12-year-old girl.
Justice Winifred Effiong delivered the judgment on Thursday after finding the hairdresser and mother of four guilty of attempted murder, an offence punishable under Section 276 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Volume 2, Laws of Akwa Ibom State, 2022.
The prosecution told the court that the incident occurred when the victim accompanied her mother, a pepper trader, to the market and was selling fresh pepper.
According to the child, the defendant approached her under the guise of buying pepper and claimed that an elderly customer who wanted to make a purchase was unable to walk to the market.
She told the court that the woman persuaded her to accompany her to a nearby bush, saying payment would be made there.
Recalling the incident, the victim testified:
“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 continued:
“She brought a knife from the bag and cut my left eyebrow and my right side of my neck and the lady ran away. The bush is close to Urua Akpan market in Essien Udim.”
The defendant was arraigned on August 12, 2024. After the charge was read and interpreted to her in the Annang language, 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 exhibits.
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 harvesting waterleaf nearby.
However, Justice Effiong rejected the explanation, noting that the defendant failed to provide the identity, address or any description of the alleged woman.
The judge held that the claim was unsupported by evidence and could not create reasonable doubt.
The court found that the prosecution had established beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant lured the victim into the bush, where she sustained serious injuries.
Justice Effiong also relied on the defendant’s admission that she led the child away from the market, the nature of the injuries, and the victim’s immediate identification of the defendant while receiving treatment at Saint Mary’s Hospital, Urua Akpan.
In the judgment, the court held:
“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 judge further observed:
“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 added that the prosecution had proved every element of the offence beyond reasonable doubt.
“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,” the judge ruled.
Following the conviction, defence counsel appealed to the court for mercy and asked that the defendant be given a second chance.
However, the judge held that the law prescribes a mandatory sentence 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,” Justice Effiong declared.