Ado-Ekiti High Court Judge John Adeyeye acquitted and acquitted a 51-year-old man, Asalu Olorunkemi, who was serving two years in prison for assaulting Olubunmi Beatrice.
The Nigeria News Agency (NAN) reports that Mr. Olorunkemi and other fugitives had been sentenced in August to two years in prison, with the option of a fine of 50,000 naira, for physically assaulting the author by beating her.
NAN also reports that the crime was committed in Fasuba Plaza, Ilawe-Ekiti road, Ado-Ekiti within the Ado-Ekiti judicial division.
The alleged offense was said to be contrary to Section 2b (1) and punishable under Section 4 (a) of the Ekiti State Gender Violence Prohibition Act of 2011.
Dissatisfied with the judgment of the Court of First Instance, the convict had gone to a higher court to file an appeal.
Appellant’s attorney, Olalekan Olatawura, had argued on the grounds that the trial court made an error in sentencing.
However, the judge held that the prosecution did not prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt that the author was indeed assaulted on the aforementioned date, as alleged.
This, he said, in view of the contradictions between the oral testimony of the prosecution witnesses and the documentary evidence presented in support of the crime.
One of the witnesses, a police officer, had stated that the petition received specified that the attack occurred on November 13, 2014, while the medical report was dated September 2, 2014.
Mr. Adeyeye therefore released and acquitted the defendant on the grounds that the prosecution could not prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt.
He said that “with the observations that there were contradictions in the evidence presented by the Prosecutor’s Office that were materially directed at the prosecution, the appeal was left accordingly.”
The judge said that the testimony of the prosecution witnesses did not establish that the defendant actually committed the crime of assault.
He said: “Asalu Olorunkemi, you are hereby released and acquitted of the crime of assault, dated November 13, 2014.”
(YAYA)