A’Ibom woman bags life sentence for attempted murder

An Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Essien Udim Local Government Area has sentenced a 36-year-old mother of four, Uwakmfon Jonah, to life imprisonment for attempting to murder a 12-year-old pepper hawker.

The convict, a hairdresser and divorcee from Ikot Obong in Afaha Clan, Essien Udim Local Government Area, was convicted 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 presiding judge, Justice Winifred Effiong, handed down the sentence while delivering judgment on Thursday.

The court heard that the victim had accompanied her mother, a pepper trader, to the market and was hawking fresh pepper when the defendant approached her under the pretext of buying the commodity.

According to the prosecution, the defendant told the child that an elderly customer wanted to buy her pepper but could not walk to the market.

She further claimed that the customer did not have enough money with her and persuaded the girl to accompany her to a nearby bush, where her mother was allegedly cultivating waterleaf and could make payment.

Trusting the woman, the young girl followed her into the bush.

Giving evidence before the court, the victim recounted how the defendant lured her into the bush before attacking her.

“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 down inside the bush and she then held my cloth and tied it on my mouth. That was why I could not shout for help.”

“She brought knife from the bag and cut my left eye blow and my right side of my neck and the lady ran away. The bush is close to Urua Akpan market in Essien Udim,” the victim said.

Saturday PUNCH gathered that the defendant was arraigned on August 12, 2024.

The charge was read and interpreted to her in Annang language, and she pleaded not guilty.

During the trial, the prosecution called three witnesses and tendered the defendant’s statement and the victim’s statement as exhibits.

While testifying in her defence, Uwakmfon admitted approaching the child in the market and leading her into the bush but denied attacking her, claiming she handed the victim over to another woman who was cultivating waterleaf nearby.

In her judgment, Justice Effiong held that the defendant failed to provide the identity, address or any description of the alleged woman, describing the claim as unsubstantiated and unbelievable.

The court held that the prosecution successfully established that the defendant lured the victim away from the market into the bush, noting that several independent circumstances corroborated the child’s testimony, including the injuries she sustained, the defendant’s admission that she took the victim into the bush and the immediate identification of the defendant by the victim while receiving treatment at Saint Mary’s Hospital, Urua Akpan.

The judge further observed that the defendant failed to provide any credible explanation regarding the alleged third party she claimed to have handed the child over to.

The court also held that the circumstances clearly demonstrated 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 court held.

Justice Effiong ruled that the prosecution had proved all the ingredients 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.”

Following the conviction, counsel for the defendant pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy and grant her a second chance.

However, Justice Effiong held that Section 276 of the Criminal Code prescribes a mandatory punishment 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,” the court held.