An Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in the Essien Udim Local Government Area has delivered a landmark ruling as a mother of four bags life jail after being found guilty of the attempted murder of a 12-year-old girl.
The convict, 36-year-old Uwakmfon Isaac Jonah, a hairdresser and divorcee from Ikot Obong in Afaha Clan, was sentenced on a one-count charge of attempted murder. The offense violates Section 276 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Akwa Ibom State.
Presiding Judge, Justice Winifred Effiong, handed down the mandatory sentence, stating that the prosecution successfully proved all core ingredients of the violent crime beyond any reasonable doubt.
The court heard harrowing details of how the convict targeted the vulnerable child, who was helping her mother hawk fresh pepper near the Urua Akpan market. The suspect approached the young girl under the guise of making a purchase, falsely claiming that an elderly customer who couldn’t walk to the market wanted the pepper.
Trusting the suspect because she appeared neatly dressed, the child followed her toward an isolated area. When the victim grew suspicious and tried to turn back, the convict chased her down, bound her mouth with a piece of cloth to stifle her screams, and carried out a brutal attack using a knife.
The suspect inflicted a deep cut on the child’s neck and attempted to gouge out one of her eyes before fleeing the scene. Miraculously, the young girl survived the assault and later positively identified the convict while receiving emergency medical treatment at Saint Mary’s Hospital, Urua Akpan.
During the trial, the suspect admitted to leading the young child into the bush but claimed she handed her over to an unnamed woman who was farming waterleaf nearby.
Justice Effiong completely rejected this defense, describing it as an unbelievable attempt to escape justice. The judge noted that the neck is one of the most vital and vulnerable parts of the human anatomy, ruling that anyone who deliberately inflicts a deep cut on a child’s neck must be presumed to intend to kill, and the fact that the victim survived does not diminish that intent.
Although the defense counsel formally begged the court to temper justice with mercy, Justice Effiong maintained that the law prescribes a mandatory punishment of life imprisonment for the offense, leaving the court with no jurisdiction to reduce the final sentence.
