A suspect, Samson Igbinomewahin, 47, was on Monday arraigned at an Ebute Metta Chief Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, for allegedly pouring acid on his wife, Mrs. Susan Jeremiah, 31.
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| Susan Jeremiah |
Igbinomewahin was charged with attempted murder. The charge sheet read in part that Igbinomewahin “on the 9th of March, 2011, at block 8, room 31, Obalende Police Barrack, Lagos…did unlawfully attempt to kill Susan Jeremiah by pouring acid substance on her body and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 320 (1) of the Criminal Code Cap 17 Vol. II Laws of Lagos State 2003.”
The Magistrate, Mrs. Helen Omisore, had earlier asked Igbinomewahin if he wanted to be tried at either the magistrate or higher court before his plea was taken.
The suspect, who chose to be tried in the magistrate court, thereafter pleaded not guilty.
Igbinomewahin’s lawyer, Mr. Olatunde Kolawole, urged the court to grant him bail, saying the issue was “a domestic accident.” Besides, he told the court that the suspect had been in custody for more than a month.
At this point, Igbinomewahin interrupted the court proceeding by telling his lawyer that he had been detained for more than two months.
The magistrate shouted the suspect down and asked the court orderly to stand beside him in order to prevent further interruption.
But the victim’s lawyer, Mr. Lucky Oizimende , objected the bail application. He told the court that Jeremiah was still in intensive care, adding that, “what would stop him from going back to kill her?”
PUNCH METRO gathered that Igbinomewahin and his wife, whom he married in 2009, had been having running battles on his insistence that his wife should finance his proposed trip to Malaysia.
As part of the plan, our correspondent gathered that the suspect asked his wife to sell off her landed property and use the proceeds to facilitate his supposed trip.
Igbinomewahin was said to have promised his wife that she would join him when he settled down in Malaysia. PUNCH METRO, however, learnt that Jeremiah was skeptical about this arrangement.
Before the incident, our correspondent learnt that Jeremiah had already filed for divorce and the matter was still pending in another court.
As a result of the pending suit, the couple no longer live together. But the marriage is blessed with a child.
Police investigation revealed that on the fateful day, the suspect allegedly visited his estranged wife and brought a polythene bag into her apartment at police barracks, Obalende, and told his wife that it contained their baby’s food. It was learnt that when Jeremiah saw the content, she became suspicious and fled.
Igbinomewahin allegedly ran after her and poured the content in the polythene bag on her through the window.
The magistrate however adjourned ruling on the bail application till April 29, 2011, and ordered the suspect to be remanded in Ikoyi Prisons.
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