Crime
Woman bags four years imprisonment for brutalizing houseboy with razor
By Matthew Eloyi
A Magistrate Court sitting in Akure, Ondo State, has sentenced a 36-year-old mother of four, Mrs Opeyemi Omoyemi to four and a half years imprisonment with hard labour, for brutalising and inflicting bodily injuries on her 12-year-old houseboy, Joel Sunday.
While she got three and a half years imprisonment for causing grievous harm, she also bagged one-year imprisonment on violence against another person among others.
The defendant was reported to have used stick and razor blade to inflict multiple injuries on the body of the houseboy who she accused of stealing pieces of meat from her pot of soup.
She was said to have committed the offence on February 6, 2022, at her residence located at Idi mango Adewale axis of Ondo road, Akure, the state capital.
During the trial, the Prosecution Counsel, ASP Emmanuel Tanimowo applied for the withdrawal of count four charge which was granted by the Magistrate, Mrs O.A Edwin.
However, the Defense Counsel, Folusho Kayode, prayed the court to be lenient with Omoyemi while passing the sentence, saying she was a first time offender, while he also informed the court that Omoyemi, a widow and mother of four little children had been the one responsible for the welfare of the victim.
In his words, “The court should be lenient in passing sentence on the defendant. The prayer for leniency is that the defendant has been the one solely responsible for the wellbeing and education of the 12-year-old Sunday. She has been doing this dutifully for the past four years since the death of her husband.
“The defendant has kids and they have been crying since the incident happened as they could not see their mother. The defendant is a first offender and has never been arrested for any inhuman behavior. The court should graciously pass the sentence.”
In her judgement, Magistrate O. A.Edwin, said the sentence will run concurrently, and said “I know that the defendant is a first time offender but the facts of the offences are not only an abuse on the victim but an offence against public policy.
“The sentence must therefore want to deter others and also ensure that justice is done to the victim.”
The magistrate also adjourned the case to April 13, 2022 for trial in count three of the charge bothering on trafficking in persons which the defendant had pleaded not guilty.
Meanwhile, the wife of Ondo State Governor, Mrs. Betty Akeredolu, has commended the judiciary for the judgment, with a pledge to continue to throw her weight behind the advocacy for the protection of the rights of women and children.
The Anambra State Police Command has foiled a cult initiation ceremony in Nawfia, Njikoka Local Government Area of the state.
Spokesperson for the Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Awka.
According to Ikenga, the operation was carried out by police operatives around 9:30am on June 15, leading to the arrest of six suspects at the scene.
Recovered during the raid were one Jojef pump action gun, two cartridges, and a golden-coloured Lexus SUV with registration number ATN 202 AE. Other items found include two cutlasses, two scissors, a cap bearing the inscription of the Supreme Vikings Confraternity, charms, and substances suspected to be hard drugs.
“They are currently undergoing police interrogation to get more insight into their modus operandi, after which the case will be charged to court on the conclusion of the investigations,” Ikenga stated.
The police spokesperson reassured residents of the command’s unwavering commitment to fighting cultism and other related crimes across the state.
An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, on Wednesday, remanded two persons, Olaitan Fasasi and Kehinde Tobiloba in a correctional facility over alleged attempted murder.
Fasasi, 40, and Tobiloba, 26, whose addresses were not provided, are being charged with conspiracy, attempted murder and membership of a secret society.
The Magistrate, Mr L.A Owolabi, did not take the plea of the defendants for want of jurisdiction.
Owolabi directed the police to forward the case file to the Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice.
He thereafter adjourned the case until May 31 for mention.
The Prosecutor, Josephine Ikhayere, told the court that the defendants committed the offences at about 5.02p.m on Feb. 15, at Mushin, Lagos.
She said that Fasasi, Tobiloba and others now at large, attempted to commit murder by shooting at a resident, Alfred Ademola.
“They armed themselves with a locally made gun. They belong to Eiye Confraternity, a group proscribed by law,”, she said.
Ikhayere said that the offences contravened Sections 230(1) and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2012.
He said that the actions of the defendants also contravened Section 2(3)(a)(b)(c)(d) of the unlawful societies and Cultism Law of Lagos State Law.
An Area Court in Jos, on Tuesday, sentenced one Jeptha John, to three months imprisonment for stealing a Redmi mobile phone valued at N165, 000.
The judge, Shawomi Bokkos, sentenced the John after he pleaded guilty to the offence.
The judge, however, gave the convict an option to pay N20, 000 fine and N50, 000 restitution to the complainant.
Bokkos said that if the convict defaulted in paying the restitution, three months should be added to his sentence to make it six months imprisonment.
Earlier, the police prosecutor, Insp Monday Dabit, told the court that the case was reported at the B Division Police Station, Jos, on Dec. 1, 2024, by Ms Nerat Danjuma.
He said that the complainant alleged that the defendant trespassed into her house and stole her mobile phone valued at N165, 000.
The prosecutor further told the court that the offence contravened the Plateau State Penal Code, Law of Northern Nigeria.
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