Lagos court convicts carpenter for pouring acid on ex-lover, rival

Justice Oyindamola Ogala of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja sentenced a 32-year-old carpenter, Onyekachi Agu, to seven years in prison for pouring acid on his ex-girlfriend, Aishat Adefarati, and his rival, Mansur Ahmed, in 2020.

The court convicted and sent Agu to prison after finding him guilty of causing grievous bodily harm to two persons, a one-count charge filed against him by the state government.

During the trial, the state prosecutor, Uju Uwangaze, informed the judge that Agu committed the offence on July 3, 2020, at Gangare Hotel, Mile 12, Lagos.

Uwangaze alleged that Agu traced the victims to the hotel and poured acid on them, an offence that violated Section 245 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

In his defense, Agu testified that his ex-girlfriend had gotten pregnant for him and later aborted it.

However, Adefarati testified that Agu was in the habit of harassing her, which led to their separation after a three-year relationship.

The court found Agu guilty on the premise of his confessional statement and sentenced him accordingly.

In her judgment, Justice Ogala held that the confessional statement of the convict was consistent and supported by other evidence, and that the court could convict him on the statement. She further held that Agu’s retraction of his statement was meant to deceive the court, having pleaded guilty at his arraignment before a lower court.

Justice Ogala noted that the victim, Mansur Ahmed, suffered severe bodily harm, affecting his face, eye, neck, and even the money in his pocket. She stated that the scar on the arm of the defendant was sustained during the attack on the victims when he poured acid on them through the hotel’s window.

The Investigation Police Officer, who testified as the fourth prosecution witness during the trial, submitted that though the first and second prosecution witnesses did not see the person that poured the acid, they suspected Agu because he had been attacking and harassing them before the acid bath.

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