“There was happiness in my home until the Devil stole it” – Father of 9-year-old girl beaten to death by her guardian in Enugu, mourns

Jerry Achirkpi, the father of 9-year-old Precious Korchima, who was allegedly beaten to death by her guardian in Enugu State, has demanded justice. 

The suspect, Mrs Ujunwa Ugwuoke allegedly beat the minor, who was her house help, to death in her residence at Fidelity Estate, Okpara Avenue, Enugu. 

Taking to Facebook on Tuesday, January 31, Mr Achirkpi, said happiness has departed his home since the death of his daughter. 

“There was happiness in my home until the Devil stole it away. It will be restored back in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Justice for precious.” he wrote. 

According to the police, the suspect took the child’s lifeless body to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku-Ozalla, for medical attention.

However, when it was confirmed that Precious was dead by the doctors on duty, Mrs Ugwoke immediately took the body and dumped it in a refuse site along Ugbo-Nwagidi Village Road, Enugwueze Uno-Ituku community in Awgu Local Government Area.

Police further disclosed that Ugwoke escaped to Abakaliki in Ebonyi State, from where she sent a false alarm claiming that the deceased, her little child and herself, were kidnapped and taken to an unknown destination, on 9th November 2022,  while on their way back home from Independence Layout, Enugu, where she had gone to refill her Gas Cylinder,

The suspect, while at Abakaliki, claimed that kidnappers demanded a ransom of twenty million naira (N20,000,000.00) for each of them.

Mrs Ugwoke resurfaced on 16th November 2022, claiming that the kidnappers spared her and her child but shot the deceased dead.

The Police said the case was transferred to the Homicide Section of the State CID Enugu from the New Haven Police Division, where it was previously reported as a kidnap upon her confessional statement.

The suspect had been arraigned in the Enugu North Magistrate Court and remanded in the Enugu Maximum Correctional Centre.

The police case files admitted as exhibits were ordered to be transferred to the office of the Attorney General for Advice.