The Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) of the Nigeria Police Force has said it would be charging Barrister Adachukwu Helen Okafor, the Anambra lawyer that brutalised her 10 years old maid, with attempted murder and child abuse.
It will be recalled that the Minister of Women Affairs, Barrister Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, had placed a N2 million bounty on the head on Adachukwu Helen Okafor, who inserted a hot knife into the private part of her 10-year-old maid who had been living with her for just two weeks.
She also burnt the girl’s cheeks and bottom with hot iron after claiming the little girl sexually molested her six years old son.
National Coordinator for Police Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices (POCACOV), Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Olabisi Okuwobi, who paraded the suspect yesterday in Abuja, said the incident would be presented in court as a case of attempted murder and child abuse.
The CSP, while addressing newsmen, said: “Recall that on the 10th of January, there was a report, you know, in the social media, whereby it was alleged that a female lawyer abused a young girl and she was on the run.
“The Internet was awoken by the news of a 10-year-old girl who had burns all over her body. The girl was a maid to one Barrister Adachukwu Helen Okafor for two weeks.
“The said barrister accused the minor of fondling the organ of her six-year-old son while bathing him.
“On January 29, 2024, the suspect proceeded to tie her hands, her mouth and flogged her.
“She also inserted a hot knife into the girl’s private part and poured grounded pepper into it as well. She also placed a hot iron on the girl’s cheek and on her two buttocks.
“After causing the maid trauma, she locked her up in her toilet from the afternoon of the incident till the evening of the following day without food.
“She took the child the following day naked to the aunt that gave her the girl as a maid, and it was at the point that she dropped the young girl with her aunt, you know without clothes, with the burns on the cheek and buttocks and with blood and water oozing out of the private part that the aunt raised the alarm, and the alarm attracted passersby who brought out their phones and recorded the incident.
“We know what Nigerians do with their phones. And they started recording videos or taking pictures, and this went straight to the social space, which attracted the police of Anambra State Command and the Commissioner for Women Affairs in Anambra State.
“All efforts made to arrest her proved abortive because she took to her heels.
“At that point when all efforts made to arrest her proved abortive, the Honourable Minister right here beside me, also a barrister herself, Barrister Uju Kennedy, took it upon herself that she wasn’t going to keep quiet; that her portfolio covers all Nigerian women and children.
“So she released a N2 million bounty on her head and wrote a petition to the Inspector General of Police, who ordered that the petition be handled by the Force CID, and the policemen of the Force CID took action immediately.
“When the woman discovered that the heat was on her, from her hiding place, I believe she advised herself and showed up. She was arrested and her statement taken.
“She is a mother of four children.
“Unfortunately, the young girl, we hope she recuperates better. She is still receiving treatment based on the extensive burns on her. Nobody knows the extent of the internal injuries caused by the hot knife that was driven into her private part.
“The IGP is assuring Nigerians that a diligent prosecution of the case would be carried out. No iota of the incident would be swept under the carpet.
“And this should serve as a note of warning to those who use little children for child labour in the first place.
“As for the suspect, any moment, she would be in court.”
On her part, Kennedy-Ohanenye said: “To Nigerians, I can assure you that when you shout out it is like a command to us; we in government would take it up when you shout out.
“So we are assuring Nigerians that till we get justice for that girl, we would not let go.
“Before she was brought, we had already gone to court with the police and all her bank accounts are blocked.
“She can’t assess her money. We would never agree. In Nigeria now, if you tamper with any child or any woman, you will see action, legal action, any kind of action.
“But I’m equally telling women not to look for trouble.
“So we have handed over this lady, but we are not stepping aside.
“We will keep you informed step by step until she gets the correct justice she is supposed to get.”
