A 10-year-old girl, Chidinma, has been admitted at an undisclosed hospital after a couple – Eucheria Chukwuma and Jerry Oko-Oboh – allegedly beat her up and stabbed her in the private parts with a broken bottle.
It was learnt that the couple and the victim’s family lived on Joshua Street, Agbabiaka, in the Ajangbadi area of Lagos. And that the couple assaulted the minor for allegedly fiddling with the vagina of their three-year-old daughter, Peace.
PUNCH Metro gathered that Chidinma, who denied the allegation, had played with Peace at about
7pm on April 6. It was alleged that the toddler later cried and told her parents that Chidinma fiddled with her private parts.
Angered by the complaint, 30-year-old Chukwuma, it was learnt, went to Chidinma’s mother, Ofia, demanding that Chidinma follow her to her room.
A few minutes later, Ofia reportedly heard her daughter screaming and rushed to Chukwuma’s apartment to see what was wrong.
On getting there, the door was said to have been locked by the couple who reportedly beat up the victim repeatedly with punches. Not satisfied, the wife allegedly stabbed Chidinma in the private parts and smeared them with pepper.
Punch was told that the couple fled the neighbourhood when blood started gushing from Chidinma’s vagina. They were later trailed and arrested by the police after the attack was reported at the Okokomaiko Police station.
The police said Chukwuma, in a statement she voluntarily made at the station, confessed to the crime, saying she became furious when the girl declined comments about Peace’s allegation.
She and her husband were subsequently arraigned before an Apapa Magistrate’s Court on three counts bordering on assault.
The offence, according to the police prosecutor, Olusoji Ojaokomo, is punishable under sections 171, 243 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011.
The charges read in part:
“That you, Eucheria Chukwuma, 30 and Jerry Oko-Oboh, 32 on April 6, 2015, at about 9pm on Joshua Street, Agbabiaka, Oke-Agbo, Ajangbadi, in the Ojo Magisterial District, did conspire to commit felony and unlawfully assaulted one 10-year-old Chidinma, by beating her up with fist blows in her eye, which caused her harm.
That you, on the same date, time and place, in the aforementioned magisterial district, did unlawfully assault one Chindima by stabbing her with a broken bottle in her private parts.”
The accused persons, however, pleaded not guilty to the offence.
The presiding magistrate, Mr. P.A. Adekomaya, admitted them to bail in the sum of N100, 000 with a surety each in like sum. He added that they be remanded in prison custody until their bail conditions were perfected.
The case was adjourned till May 13, 2015 for mention.
