How Enugu woman killed house-help, feigned kidnap – Police

The Enugu State Police Command says it has concluded an investigation into the case of the alleged murder of 9-year-old house help, Precious James Korshima, by her guardian, Mrs. Ujunwa Ugwoke.

The information was contained in a press release issued on Thursday by the State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, detailing how Mrs. Ugwoke killed the house help and feigned kidnap.

Newsmen reported the murder of Precious, who Mrs. Ugwuoke reportedly admitted that she killed and dumped her body along the Enugu-Portharcourt Expressway.

According to the Police, Mrs. Ugwoke confessed to having beaten and caused the death of Precious, who was her house-help, in a residence at Fidelity Estate, Okpara Avenue, Enugu

She said after the incident, she 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 on 9th November 2022, on her way back home from Independence Layout, Enugu, where she had gone to refill her Gas Cylinder, and taken to an unknown destination.

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

However, Mrs. Ugwoke resurfaced on 16th November 2022, claiming that the kidnappers spared she 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.

Meanwhile, the Police said Mrs. Ugwoke had been arraigned in the Enugu North Magistrate Court of the State since 19th January 2023

However, she was remanded in the Custodial Centre with the case file transmitted to the Office of the Attorney General of Enugu State for perusal and legal advice through the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) on the orders of the Magistrate.