A Chief Magistrate’s Court in Enugu East has remanded a 47-year-old man, Mr. Anthony Onyeukwu, in connection with the death of an 11-year-old houseboy, Goodluck John.
This development comes as part of the Enugu State Government’s ongoing efforts to combat child abuse.
According to Mrs. Ngozi Enih, the Commissioner for Children, Gender Affairs, and Social Development in Enugu, Onyeukwu was arrested after a tip-off from a whistle-blower linked the child’s death to suspected abuse at the hands of the family where Goodluck had worked.
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The young boy, who had been living as a houseboy in the home of the accused, was reportedly buried in his native Abia State without any formal report to the authorities.
While Onyeukwu claimed that Goodluck had died from an illness at Park Lane Hospital, Enugu, investigations revealed that there was no record of the boy being admitted or his body being deposited at the hospital’s morgue.
The police prosecutor, Inspector Calista Ifeanyi, presented the charges against Onyeukwu to the Chief Magistrate, Ngozi Edeh Anih.
The charges indicated that the suspect unlawfully killed Goodluck on October 15, 2024, at his residence in Loma Linda Extension, Enugu. This act, according to the charge sheet, violated Section 274(1) of the Criminal Code of Enugu State.
After hearing the charges, the Chief Magistrate ordered the remand of Onyeukwu in Enugu Correctional Centre and adjourned the case to November 20, 2024, pending a report from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Meanwhile, the office of Mrs. Nkechinyere Mbah, wife of the Governor of Enugu State, issued a strong warning against any form of child abuse, stating that perpetrators would face the full force of the law.
