A woman identified as Mrs. Ujunwa Ugwuoke, has been arrested by the police for allegedly beating her nine-year-old house help, Precious Korshima, to death, at Fidelity Estate, Enugu State.
It was gathered that in a bid to cover up the crime, the woman allegedly dumped her house help corpse in the bush where the body was consequently set ablaze.
The father of the victim, Mr. James Achikpi Korshima, popularly known as ‘Jerry B’ who hails from Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State, but resides in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, narrated the gruesome murder of his daughter to a human rights organisation based in Enugu, the Civil Rights Realisation and Advancement Network (CRRAN).
The 37-year-old Korshima, alleged that Ugwuoke beat his daughter to death after which she dumped the corpse in the bush where residents of the area burnt her body.
According to Korshima, “Sometimes in March 2022, a business woman Mrs. Nelly Okoroafor, who lives in Port-Harcourt approached me and pleaded with me to release my little daughter, Miss Precious Korshima (9 years old) to train in school through her friend in Enugu, Mrs. Ujunwa Ugwoke. She told me that it would be her own little way of helping Precious since I am just an upcoming artist and to also help Mrs Ugwuoke look after her new born baby.
“I released my little daughter to Mrs. Okoroafor and subsequently she was sent to Mrs Ujunwa who lives in Fidelity Estate, Enugu. She was living with her until November 10, 2022 when I received a strange phone call from an unknown caller using Mrs. Ujunwa’s phone number. The caller claimed that they kidnapped Mrs. Ugwuoke, her baby and Precious, my daughter and demanded ransom of N20million.
“I pleaded with the alleged kidnapper that my little daughter was only a house help and that I had no means of raising such an amount of money. I also appealed to the alleged kidnapper caller that I would get in touch with the family of Mrs. Ujunwa. Like I promised I got in touch with Mrs. Ujunwa’s family and the husband who lives abroad. To my greatest surprise they all feigned ignorance of the alleged kidnap,” he explained.
Continuing, Korshima said that Mrs. Ugwoke and her own daughter in bizarre turn of events, were allegedly released from the kidnapper’s den and his little Precious was alleged to have been murdered, according to Mrs. Ujunwa.
He said that he immediately reported the matter to the New Haven Police Station, Enugu, adding that the DPO of the Station later said that the matter had been transferred to the Anti-Kidnapping Squad unit of the Enugu Police command.
“It was after some days at the anti-kidnapping base that Mrs. Ugwuoke admitted that she beat Precious to death and dumped the corpse off Port-Harcourt Expressway immediately after the military checkpoint after the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu,” he narrated.
Korshima further stated the Police had told him that when they went to the scene, they learnt that the Igwe of the community gave the order that the youth should burn the decomposing body of her daughter because of the offensive smell from the body. “The Igwe did this illegal act without informing security agents of the presence of the corpse in his domain.”
However, Civil Rights Realisation and Advancement Network (CRRAN), in a petition to the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State Police Command, which was copied to the Inspector General of Police and Enugu state Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, demanded for a thorough investigation while asking that the case should be transferred to homicide section of the State Criminal and Investigation Department (State CID), of the State command.
CRRAN in the petition signed by its President, Olu Omotayo, described the case as clear murder, adding “we submit that this is a clear case of murder and the investigation of the case has nothing to do with the Anti-Kidnapping Base.
“We urge you to immediately order that a thorough investigation of this heinous crime be carried out by the Homicide section of the State Criminal and Investigation Department (State CID), of the State Police Headquarters, Enugu.
“Ujunwa Ugwuoke killed the little child in a cruel and barbaric way and dumped the corpse in the bush while the Igwe in question completed the unlawful act by ordering the burning of the corpse.”
“We join Mr. Korshima and Mr. Terfa Kaaimo, the President of the Tiv Community in Enugu to Demand Justice in this case. The killers should be made to face the full wrath of the law.”
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