CYRIACUS IZUEKWE
A 31-year-old man, Stephen Alabi, has done the unthinkable by allegedly using a cutlass to give his neighbour’s two-year old daughter a cut on her head during a quarrel with her father in Lagos State.
P.M.EXPRESS reports the incident happened at Egbatedo Street, Moshalashi Bus Stop, Orile Alagbado, Lagos, where they reside.
According to the Police, the little girl suffered her fate after the suspect, Alabi had a disagreement with her father, Idowu Olayinka, over the cleaning of the compound.
The quarrel eventually led to physical fighting between Alabi and Olayinka. And in the process, Alabi brought out a cutlass and inflicted injury on the girl’s head.
She was said to have bled profusely and was rushed to an undisclosed hospital, where the doctors are battling to save her life.
The matter was reported to the Police in the area; Alabi was arrested and detained for interrogation over his conduct.
During interrogation, the Police discovered that Alabi belongs to an unlawful society and willfully attempted to kill the girl in order to punish her father.
The Police found him culpable and subsequently charged him before the Ogba Magistrates Court for the alleged offence, which attracts several years of imprisonment if he is found guilty before the Court.
However, the Court did not take his plea following a motion moved by the prosecutor, Inspector Felicia Okwori, asking the Court to refer the matter to the DPP for advice.
The Presiding Magistrate, Mrs. H. B. Mogaji, ordered him to be remanded in Kirikiri Correctional Centre pending the outcome of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP)’s advice.
The matter was adjourned till 31st March, 2023, for the report of the DPP to be available, which will determine if the matter will be transferred to the High Court or not over jurisdiction.
The prosecutor had told the Court that the alleged offences contravened Sections 41, 168, 230 and 406 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.