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The Anambra State-based lawyer, Adachukwu Okafor, who was accused of brutalising her house help, Happiness Nwafor, has turned herself in to the police.
According to a statement by Chidinma Ikeanyionwu, the media aide to the Anambra State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Ify Obinabo, on Friday, February 16, 2024, the lawyer surrendered herself to Anambra State Police Command in Awka.
Okafor was suspected to have gone into hiding after allegations emerged that she used various objects, like a broken bottle, knife, and electric iron, to harm her 11-year-old maid following an incident between the latter and her daughter.
The development comes four days after the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, placed a ₦2m bounty on the lawyer for allegedly absconding.
The minister made the announcement while addressing journalists in Abuja on Monday, February 12, 2024, as she asserted her right to intervene in the matter because it relates to women and children in the country.
Meanwhile, Ikeanyionwu disclosed that Okafor turned herself in to the police after the announcement of the bounty placed on her.
“One Adachukwu Okafor, the alleged abuser of her 11-year-old housekeeper, has surrendered herself to the Anambra Police Command in Awka.
“Recall that the suspect, who is currently in police net, used knives and other sharp objects to inflict injuries on her 11-year-old housekeeper.
“This took place after she was declared wanted and a bounty of N2m placed on her,” the statement read.
For her part, Obinabo said the suspect will be arraigned before the Children, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Magistrate Court in Awka next week.
The Women Affairs Commissioner visited the victim at the hospital and further interacted with her. She will be discharged anytime soon.
Nwafor reportedly appreciated the state government’s intervention and demanded that severe punishment should meted out to her abuser.