A Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting in Enugu East Magisterial District has remanded one Mr. Anthony Onyeukwu, over the death of his 11-year -old househelp, Goodluck John.
The Enugu State Government in reacting to the court judgement, said it was in line with its sustained war against all forms of child abuse.
Commissioner for Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development in the state, Mrs. Ngozi Enih, stated that Mr. Onyeukwu, aged 47, was arrested following a tip-off from one of the ministry’s whistle-blower channels which alleged that Master Goodluck John’s death was linked to abuse in the hands of the family where he lived with as a househelp.
However, Mr. Onyeukwu was said to have quickly conveyed and had the remains of the 11-year old boy buried in the boy’s hometown in Abia State without reporting his death to the appropriate authorities.
Although, he was said to have claimed that the boy had died from an ailment at the Park Lane Hospital, Enugu, there was no record to show that the boy was admitted at the hospital or that his corpse was deposited in the hospital’s morgue.
Arraigning the suspect last week , the police prosecutor, Inspector Calista Ifeanyi, told the presiding Chief Magistrate, Ngozi Anih
that Mr. Onyeukwu committed an offence punishable under the Criminal Code (Revised) Laws of Enugu State.
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The charge sheet marked: CME/631C/2024 reads: “That you, Onyeukwu Anthony ‘m’ on 15th day of October, 2024 at about 20:30 hours at No. 4, Mike Onyeka Close, Loma Linda Extension, Maryland, Enugu, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did unlawfully kill one Goodluck John ‘m’ aged 11 years and thereby commited an offence punishable under Section 274 (1) of the Criminal Code, CAP 30, Vol. II, Revised Laws of Enugu State of Nigeria, 2004.”
The chief magistrate subsequently, ordered the suspect’s remand in the Correctional Centre, Enugu and adjourned the matter to November 20, 2024, when the report from the Director of Public Prosecutions, Ministry of Justice, Enugu, is expected to be presented in court.
Meanwhile, the office of the wife of the Governor of Enugu State, Mrs. Nkechinyere Mbah, has warned against any form of child abuse in the state, as no such act would go unpunished.
