Anambra-based lawyer Adachukwu Okafor has denied accusations of inflicting injuries on her 11-year-old maid, Happiness Nwafor, News About Nigeria reports.
The lawyer, who had been declared wanted by both federal and state ministries of women’s affairs, shared a different narrative of the events leading to the injuries sustained by the young girl.
Okafor, residing at Chris Igwilo Street, Akapka GRA, 3-3 Onitsha of Anambra State, allegedly used various objects, including a broken bottle, knife, and electric iron, to harm her house help in response to an incident involving her son.
The incident prompted her to take the victim to her parents’ house before fleeing to an unknown destination.
The suspect, who surrendered herself to the Anambra State Police Command after being declared wanted, met with the Anambra State Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, in her office in Awka.
Speaking to journalists during the meeting, Okafor claimed that she only flogged the maid for abusing her son.
According to her account, when Okafor returned home, she discovered her maid naked on top of her 6-year-old son in her car.
Subsequently, when she attempted to discipline the maid, the girl ran away but was caught by security personnel in the area.
Okafor claimed that, during an evening confrontation at home, the maid fell on the blades of the cooking gas burner while trying to escape.
Denying any intentional harm, Okafor said that she didn’t run away from her residence after the incident.
She stated that she turned herself in to the police and continued with her daily routine the next day.
The Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, described Okafor’s account as a “sharp departure from the victim’s version.”
The suspect has been arraigned before the Anambra State Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Magistrate Court in Awka and remanded at the state CID headquarters in Awka.
