ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – A Chief Magistrate’s Court in Enugu East Magisterial District has ordered the detention of 47-year-old Mr. Anthony Onyeukwu over allegations related to the death of an 11-year-old houseboy, Goodluck John.
This action, the Enugu State Government noted, is part of its ongoing commitment to combat child abuse in all forms.
Enugu State Commissioner for Children, Gender Affairs, and Social Development, Mrs. Ngozi Enih, explained that Onyeukwu’s arrest followed a tip received through one of the ministry’s whistleblower channels.
The information suggested that young Goodluck John’s death was tied to abuse within the household where he worked as a houseboy.
It is alleged that after Goodluck’s death, Onyeukwu quickly transported the boy’s remains to his hometown in Abia State for burial, bypassing any official report of the death to authorities.
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Onyeukwu reportedly claimed that the boy had died from an illness at Park Lane Hospital in Enugu; however, no record was found to confirm that Goodluck had been admitted there or that his body was ever in the hospital’s morgue.
During Mr. Onyeukwu’s arraignment last week, Police Prosecutor Inspector Calista Ifeanyi informed the presiding Chief Administrative Magistrate, Ngozi Edeh Anih, that Onyeukwu’s actions were punishable under the Criminal Code (Revised) Laws of Enugu State.
The charge sheet, numbered CME/631C/2024, stated: “That you, Onyeukwu Anthony ‘m,’ on the 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 committed an offence punishable under Section 274 (1) of the Criminal Code, CAP 30, Vol. II, Revised Laws of Enugu State of Nigeria, 2004.”
Magistrate Anih ordered that the suspect be remanded in Enugu Correctional Centre and adjourned the case to November 20, 2024, by which time a report from the Director of Public Prosecutions, Ministry of Justice, Enugu, is expected.
In response to the incident, the Office of the Wife of the Governor of Enugu State, Mrs. Nkechinyere Mbah, issued a warning against any form of child abuse in the state, emphasizing that such acts would not go unpunished.