An Ikeja High Court on Wednesday, April 26, sentenced a 32-year-old carpenter, Onyekachi Agu, to seven years imprisonment for pouring acid on his ex-girlfriend, Aishat Adefarati, and her new lover, Monsuru Ahmed.
Justice Oyindamola Ogala held that
prosecution proved the one-count charge of grievous harm against Agu.
Mrs. Ogala said that Agu’s retraction of his
confessional statement was an attempt to lie and escape punishment.
According to her, the convict failed to bring
to court, his brother, who he claimed to have been with on the day of the
incident.
"The defendant tried to mislead the
court by claiming to have been with his brother on the said day but he failed
to corroborate his evidence by giving the date and day he visited him,"
the judge said.
“His ‘brother’ who he tried to use as an
alibi, was nowhere to be found to give evidence before this court. Pouring a
corrosive substance on the victims was never contradicted by the defendant. The
action of the defendant was considered an intention,"
“The victims showed to the court, the level
of damage to their bodies,”
Mrs. Ogala said that the case of the
prosecution was premised on circumstantial evidence.
"The testimony of the defendant’s former
lover on how she had been harassed and assaulted by him, later led to their
separate ways after three years of relationship.
"In view of the evidence before the
court, I hereby find the defendant guilty of the charge against him, and he is
hereby sentenced to seven years jail term,” Mrs. Ogala said.
The convict, in his plea for mercy, told the
court that he was sorry, and asked Ahmed, who was present in court, to forgive
him.
Prosecution presented four witnesses and
tendered several pieces of evidence during trial, while Agu testified as a sole
witness for defence.
According to prosecution, the carpenter
committed the offence on July 3, 2020, at Gangare Hotel, Mile 12, Lagos.
The convict traced Aishat and her new lover
to the hotel and poured acid on them.
The offence contravenes Section 245 of the
Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
Video posted by Human Rights Defenders and
Access to Justice Centre, during a visit to Monsuru, in the hospital, showed
one of the victims in bed. See screenshots below…
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