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A State High Court sitting in Ikeja on Wednesday sentenced a 32-year-old carpenter identified as Onyekachi Agu to seven years imprisonment for pouring acid on his ex-girlfriend named 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.
NAN