A 31-year-old housewife, Mrs. Stella Ifeoma Agbo has been
arrested for alleged acid attack on a 17-year-old girl, Judith Johnpaul,
Okpanam community in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta
State on June 4th.
The horrific attack left brilliant who passed her WAEC in
flying colours two years ago, disfigured and in agony at the orthopedic
ward of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba, Delta State, where
doctors are battling to rebuild the flesh on her.
According to The Sun, the suspect, who is being held at the
headquarters of Delta State Police Command, told investigators the
victim and members of her family were a constant threat to her marriage,
as she claimed that they were appearing in her dreams and threatening
to kill her so as to snatch her husband.
It was gathered that Agbo allegedly attacked Johnpaul in
April 2016 with a knife at the same spot where the suspect poured acid
on her in June this year.
Recounting her ordeal with great effort, Judith said the
suspect was a former neighbour, and that due to the constant trouble she
was causing her family, they relocated to another apartment.
Rather than have peace in the new abode, Agbo is alleged to
have traced them to the new place, and kept harassing the family, who
are of the Isoko natives of Ibrede in Ndokwa East Local Government Area
of Delta State.
"She was our neighbour two years ago when we were in the same compound but due to the troubles she was giving the family, we relocated, and she also relocated. But along the line, where we moved to, she normally comes to disturb us and cause trouble.
“My father asked us to ignore her. He went to her husband to plead with him to prevail on her so that she could let us have peace. But the woman said she was seeing us in her dream and that we were chasing her.
“She always come to the place where I am learning a trade in fashion design to disturb me and the people around wanted to beat her up but I intervened and told them that my father asked us to ignore her.
“On June 4 when I was going to church in the morning, I saw her at the corner of a building. I passed her and ignored her. But on getting to the church premises, she appeared again and poured some liquid on me.“I did not know it was acid until my body started reacting to it, and my face started swelling. I was shouting and ran to a nearby place but there was no one around until I ran into the church where the church members helped me and brought me to the hospital.”
Mother of the victim, Mrs. Patricia Johnpaul told Sunday
Sun that despite ignoring the suspect, she did not give up as she
continued to torment her family, ensuring that the family members
including the father knew no peace.
“She told us that she saw us in her dream, and that when she was pregnant, I ate the fetus. We have not had peace since then. And when the trouble became unbearable, my husband said we should pack out to another apartment.“But she traced us to the new apartment and was always laying ambush for us on the way. But my husband urged us to keep avoiding her for more than two years.“It got to an extent that she stabbed this same girl last year April at the same spot where she poured acid on her this year. We thought it was an issue of boyfriend as at last year but we were wrong.“She accused us of appearing in her dream to kill her and replace her with my daughter as the husband’s new wife. She has been attacking all of us because I saw her on the Saturday before the incident and she was holding the same bucket of acid. Who knows, it could have been anybody in my family,” the mother of five said.
The victim’s mother appealed to good spirited individuals,
corporate organisations and the state government to come to the aid of
the family in footing an anticipated huge hospital bill, saying that she
was just a housewife and that her husband is a Vehicle Inspection
Officer in the state.
“We have been in the hospital for close to a month, the family of the suspect has not visited let alone contribute a penny to the treatment. The only day her husband came was when the police were around to take my daughter’s statement. So, we are appealing to everybody to assist us,” she added.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Zanna Ibrahim,
who confirmed the incident and said that a small empty custard cup and
pieces of acid-burnt clothes were recovered at the scene of crime on the
day of the incident.
Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer of the
command, Deputy Superintendent of Police Andrew Aniamaka, disclosed that
the suspect was arraigned before a magistrate court in Asaba, where she
pleaded not guilty and was remanded in prison custody.
Source: Sunday Sun