Enugu State Police Command has revealed the circumstances which led to the death of a nine-year-old girl, Precious Korchima in Enugu. A report released by the spokesman of the state Command, Daniel Ndukwe on Friday, indicated that Mrs Ujunwa Ugwuoke, the guardian of the deceased, confessed to have, during the night hours of November 8, 2022, beaten and caused the death of the minor, who was her house-help.
The incident according to their investigation, occurred in her residence at Fidelity Estate, Okpara Avenue, Enugu. The report said that “In the morning hours of the following day, she took the lifeless body of the child to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla, for medical attention.
“However, upon getting confirmation of her death by doctors on duty, she immediately took and dumped her corpse in a refuse dump site along Ugbo-Nwagidi Village Road, Enugwueze Uno-Ituku community in Awgu Local Government Area.” The suspect, in a bid to cover her crime, evaded to Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, from where she sent a false alarm claiming that the deceased, her little child and herself, were kidnapped on 9th November, 2022, on her way back home from Independence Layout, Enugu, where she had gone to refill her gas cylinder, and taken to an unknown destination.
“She further claimed that the kidnappers were demanding a ransom of N20 million for each of them. The suspect, however, resurfaced on 16th November, 2022, claiming that the kidnappers spared her and her child’s life, but shot the deceased dead.
“Hence, the case, which was initially reported at New Haven Police Division as a case of kidnapping, was transferred to Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Command and further transferred to the Homicide Section of the State CID Enugu, upon her confessional statement.”
Following the conclusion of investigation, the suspect was on Thursday, January 19, arraigned in the Enugu North Magistrate Court. She was remanded in the Custodial Centre and the case file was transmitted to the Office of the Attorney General of Enugu State for legal advice, through the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), on the orders of the Magistrate.
Speaking on the incident, the State Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Ammani, commended the efforts made by the Police detectives to lay a firm foundation for the dispensation of justice in the case. He charged parents to be mindful of whom they, under whatsoever guise, entrust the custody and care of their children, to avoid disheartening situations of this nature.