It was learnt that the couple
and the victim’s family lived on Joshua Street, Agbabiaka, in the Ajangbadi
area of Lagos.
It was learnt 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.
Our correspondent 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.
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