Justice Oyindamola Ogala of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja on Wednesday convicted and sentenced 32-year-old carpenter Onyekachi Agu to seven years imprisonment for pouring acid on his ex-girlfriend, Aishat Adefarati and his rival, Mansur Ahmed in 2020.
Justice Ogala sent the convict to prison after she held that the prosecution has successfully proven the one-count charge of causing grievous bodily harm to two persons filed against him by the state government.
The state prosecutor, Uju Uwangaze had informed the judge that the convict committed the offence on July 3, 2020, at Gangare Hotel, Mile 12, Lagos.
Uwangaze had claimed that the convict had traced the victims to the hotel and poured acid on them, an offence she said violated Section 245 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The convict had during his testimony told the court that his girlfriend had got pregnant for him and later aborted it.
But the lady had testified that the convict was in the habit of harassing her, which led to their separation after three years of relationship.
Justice Ogala, having found the defendant guilty on the premise of his confessional statement, sentenced him accordingly.
The judge had held, in her judgment, that the confessional statement of the convict is consistent and supported by other evidence, and that the court can convict him on the statement.
The court had further held that the retraction of the convict was meant to deceive the court, having pleaded guilty at his arraignment before a lower court.
Justice Ogala noted that the victim, second prosecution witness, Mansur Ahmed, suffered severe bodily harm affecting his face, eye, neck and even the money in his pocket.
The judge stated that the scar on the arm of the defendant was sustained during the attack on the victims when he poured acid on the victims through the hotel’s window.
