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| 4-year-old Happiness Sunday |
THE death of four-year-old Happiness Sunday remains a mystery.
Her death on May 23, 2012, in a dry well that had remained closed until that day, shattered the serenity of the neighbourhood and the peace of her parents, Mr. Sunday and Ekaete Ekong.
A neighbour’s wife, Mrs Kudirat Bello, who allegedly sent her daughter, Sukura, to call Happiness and also later sent her to
tell Mrs. Ekong that her child, Happiness was in the well was subsequently charged to court over the incident.
Testifying before Mrs M. O. Tanimola of the Yaba Magistrate Court, Mr Ekong, a Technician and step-father of the deceased said Happiness was her usual happy self, and was about to eat and do her home work when, Sukura came to say her mother was asking of Happiness. “I told her that Happiness was about to eat and she (Sukura) left and came back twice. It was then that she asked for a pencil and I told her that she (Happiness) would bring the pencil to her after she had finished her own assignment. She (Happiness) did take it to her and came back to watch a movie, while I went out to buy something from a nearby shop. Because light went off, I decided to sit outside. My wife and Happiness also joined me. Not long afterwards, the little girl came again to say that her mother sent her to bring Happiness. Then, my wife had just gone in to check what she had on the fire and that was the last time we saw Happiness alive.”
According to him, not long afterwards, his wife ran out, screaming. Together with the landlady’s daughter, Mary Lawal, they ran after her to the Well.
Sukura’s mother, who was standing by the well, explained that Happiness fell into the it. ‘can’t you see her? Can’t you hear her?’ She reportedly asked but they neither saw nor heard Happiness. When she was brought out, Ekong said, she was already dead with a broken neck.
The accused, Sukura’ mother, who just reconciled with her estranged husband and came to visit him from time to time, denied any role in the death of the little girl.
Mr Ekong who said he is still amazed at the incident said since he moved into the compound in October last year, he had never seen the well opened until the dayof the incident. “How it got opened that day and my daughter was thrown inside is still a mystery to me. The well is securely covered with two slabs and an iron sheet. Neither Happiness nor Sukura could move the slabs to open the well.”
The case was first reported at Alakara Police Station before it was referred to Panti, Yaba. The investigating police officer (IPO), popularly called Aye, of the Homicide Section, also narrated what he knew about the case to the court and tendered the iron sheet—- part of the covering for the well.
Husband of the accused, Mr. Bello, whom Ekong alleged was trying to abscond from the premises and had been offering him N100,000 so they could settle out of court, was not in court when the wife was arraigned.
Ekong had also reported the case to the Public Advisory Office, Ikeja and the Office of the Public Defender, Surulere, Lagos, who are all interested in the case.
Eventually, Barrister Silas Udoh agreed to handle the case probono.
“My wife is traumatized and has been sick because of this issue. I’m happy that the case has been charged to court. I didn’t want to settle out of court. I want justice for my little Happiness,” Ekong declared.
The case was adjourned to of October 15, 2012 pending the outcome of the advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecution’s ( DPP).
-Guardian
....God please expose the wicked in our mist soonest...Amen!
Our heart goes to the family of late happiness! We pray the Mystery behind this will be solved.
Her death on May 23, 2012, in a dry well that had remained closed until that day, shattered the serenity of the neighbourhood and the peace of her parents, Mr. Sunday and Ekaete Ekong.
A neighbour’s wife, Mrs Kudirat Bello, who allegedly sent her daughter, Sukura, to call Happiness and also later sent her to
tell Mrs. Ekong that her child, Happiness was in the well was subsequently charged to court over the incident.
Testifying before Mrs M. O. Tanimola of the Yaba Magistrate Court, Mr Ekong, a Technician and step-father of the deceased said Happiness was her usual happy self, and was about to eat and do her home work when, Sukura came to say her mother was asking of Happiness. “I told her that Happiness was about to eat and she (Sukura) left and came back twice. It was then that she asked for a pencil and I told her that she (Happiness) would bring the pencil to her after she had finished her own assignment. She (Happiness) did take it to her and came back to watch a movie, while I went out to buy something from a nearby shop. Because light went off, I decided to sit outside. My wife and Happiness also joined me. Not long afterwards, the little girl came again to say that her mother sent her to bring Happiness. Then, my wife had just gone in to check what she had on the fire and that was the last time we saw Happiness alive.”
According to him, not long afterwards, his wife ran out, screaming. Together with the landlady’s daughter, Mary Lawal, they ran after her to the Well.
Sukura’s mother, who was standing by the well, explained that Happiness fell into the it. ‘can’t you see her? Can’t you hear her?’ She reportedly asked but they neither saw nor heard Happiness. When she was brought out, Ekong said, she was already dead with a broken neck.
The accused, Sukura’ mother, who just reconciled with her estranged husband and came to visit him from time to time, denied any role in the death of the little girl.
Mr Ekong who said he is still amazed at the incident said since he moved into the compound in October last year, he had never seen the well opened until the dayof the incident. “How it got opened that day and my daughter was thrown inside is still a mystery to me. The well is securely covered with two slabs and an iron sheet. Neither Happiness nor Sukura could move the slabs to open the well.”
The case was first reported at Alakara Police Station before it was referred to Panti, Yaba. The investigating police officer (IPO), popularly called Aye, of the Homicide Section, also narrated what he knew about the case to the court and tendered the iron sheet—- part of the covering for the well.
Husband of the accused, Mr. Bello, whom Ekong alleged was trying to abscond from the premises and had been offering him N100,000 so they could settle out of court, was not in court when the wife was arraigned.
Ekong had also reported the case to the Public Advisory Office, Ikeja and the Office of the Public Defender, Surulere, Lagos, who are all interested in the case.
Eventually, Barrister Silas Udoh agreed to handle the case probono.
“My wife is traumatized and has been sick because of this issue. I’m happy that the case has been charged to court. I didn’t want to settle out of court. I want justice for my little Happiness,” Ekong declared.
The case was adjourned to of October 15, 2012 pending the outcome of the advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecution’s ( DPP).
-Guardian
....God please expose the wicked in our mist soonest...Amen!
Our heart goes to the family of late happiness! We pray the Mystery behind this will be solved.
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