Court jails woman seven years for injuring boyfriend’s genitals in Ekiti

An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti has sentenced a 35-year-old woman, Joy Ikoja, to seven years’ imprisonment for inflicting grievous injuries on the genitals of her boyfriend, Ibrahim Usman, during a violent domestic dispute.

Justice Oyinkansola Oluboyede convicted Ikoja after finding her guilty of causing grievous harm, but discharged and acquitted her of the charge of attempted murder.

The Ekiti State Ministry of Justice had arraigned the defendant on a two-count charge bordering on attempted murder, contrary to Section 241 of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2021, and causing grievous harm, contrary to Section 255 of the same law.

The case, marked HAD/14C/2025, arose from an incident that occurred on April 12, 2025, at the Irona area of Ado-Ekiti.

Evidence before the court showed that Ikoja and Usman had cohabited as lovers in a one-room apartment for about three years. Their relationship reportedly became strained after Ikoja accommodated a female friend, Mayowa Ayomide, who was experiencing accommodation challenges, with Usman’s consent.

The prosecution told the court that the arrangement later degenerated after Usman allegedly began a secret sexual relationship with Mayowa while they were all living under the same roof.

According to the prosecution, at about 7:30 p.m. on April 12, 2025, Ikoja returned home unexpectedly and found the room locked from the inside. After forcing her way into the apartment, she allegedly caught Usman and Mayowa in bed together.

In the ensuing confrontation, Usman reportedly attempted to shield Mayowa and restrain Ikoja. During the struggle, Ikoja allegedly grabbed Usman’s genitals with extreme force, inflicting a deep vertical laceration to his scrotum and exposing his testes.

The victim was immediately rushed to the Police Cottage Hospital in Okesa, Ado-Ekiti, where he received emergency treatment. However, the injury later became infected, necessitating his transfer to the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital for specialist urological care.

During the trial, the prosecution, led by F. O. Awoniyi, called four witnesses, including police investigators and the attending medical doctor. Five exhibits were also tendered before the court, including photographs of the injuries, a certificate of compliance, the defendant’s confessional statement and a medical report.

The defendant, represented by counsel from the Legal Aid Council, Adeyinka Opaleke, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

She later retracted her extra-judicial confessional statement, insisting she never made any statement to the police and claiming that although a scuffle occurred, she did not inflict the injuries sustained by the victim.

In her judgment, Justice Oluboyede held that the prosecution failed to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant acted with the intention to kill, an essential element required to sustain the charge of attempted murder. Consequently, she acquitted Ikoja on that count.

The judge, however, ruled that the evidence presented by the prosecution overwhelmingly established the offence of causing grievous harm.

She held that the defendant’s confessional statement was voluntary and was substantially corroborated by medical evidence and the testimonies of prosecution witnesses.

Justice Oluboyede described the defendant’s denial as an afterthought and lamented the growing incidence of domestic violence arising from uncontrolled emotions.

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Before pronouncing sentence, the judge observed that the matter could have been resolved through a plea bargain, which, in her view, would have reduced litigation costs, shortened the trial, lowered the sentence and afforded greater privacy to the victim.

“This Court understands that the defendant’s action was largely borne out of uncontrolled emotions and passion against her intimate partner. However, there is no justification for violence, and this judgment should serve as a deterrent to other aggressive or would-be aggressive partners,” the judge said.

Justice Oluboyede thereafter sentenced Ikoja to the maximum punishment prescribed under Section 255 of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2021, sentencing her to seven years’ imprisonment.

The court ruled that the sentence would commence from the date of conviction and would not include the period already spent in detention.