Murder of 9-year-old house-help: Police investigate, prosecute suspect in court

The State Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (State CID) of Enugu Police Command has concluded investigation into the alleged murder of nine-year-old, Miss Precious Korshima, by her guardian, one Ujunwa Ugwuoke.

The Homicide Section of the State CID also prosecuted the suspect, Ugwuoke, 29, by arraigning her in the Enugu North Magistrate Court of the state on Jan. 20.

This is contained in a statement issued by the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, on Friday in Enugu.

Ndukwe said that the suspect was remanded in Enugu Custodial Centre and the case-file transmitted to the office of the state’s Attorney General for legal advice, through the Director of Public Prosecution on the orders of the magistrate.

“The investigation conducted into the case revealed that the suspect confessed to have, during the night hours of Nov. 8, 2022, beaten and caused the death of the minor, who was her house-help, in her residence at Fidelity Estate, Enugu.

“Thereafter, in the morning hours of the following day, she took the lifeless body of the child to University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla, for medication attention.

“However, upon getting confirmation of her death by doctors on duty, she immediately took and dumped her corpse in a refuse dumpsite along Ugbo-Nwagidi Village Road, Enugwueze Uno-Ituku community in Awgu Local Government Area.

“Furthermore, she went to Abakaliki in Ebonyi State, from where she sent a false alarm claiming that the deceased, her little child and herself, were kidnapped on Nov. 9, 2022.

“She alleged that the kidnap took place on her way back home from Independence Layout Enugu that fateful day, where she had gone to refill her gas cylinder. She said the kidnapped persons were taken to an unknown destination.

“She further claimed that the kidnappers were demanding a ransom of N20 million for each of them,” he said.

The police spokesman noted that the suspect, however, resurfaced on Nov. 16, 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 the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Command and further transferred to the Homicide Section of the State CID, upon her confessional statement,” he said.

Ndukwe said that the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Ahmed Ammani, had commended the painstaking efforts made by police detectives to lay a firm foundation for the dispensation of justice in the case.

He said that the commissioner also charged parents to be mindful of whom they, under whatever guise, entrust the custody and care of their children to avoid disheartening situations of this nature.