A former bartender, Jones Adewoye, has told a Lagos High Court at Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos State, how a hoodlum, Felix Ayeye, was arrested while trying to sell the phone he stole from him to his wife at their home in Ajah area of the state.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Adewoye was on his way home when Ayeye and his gang members ambushed him in a dark place.
During the attack, Adewoye, who was the first prosecution witness to testify in court on Thursday, told Justice Modupe Nico-Clay that the hoodlums led by Ayeye allegedly stabbed him with a dagger and robbed him of his phone and other items worth N78,000.
He explained that Ayeye, who is facing two counts of conspiracy to rob and armed robbery, was arrested when he tried to sell his stolen phone to his wife.
During the trial, the prosecutor, Titilayo Olanrewaju-Daudu, said the offense committed contravened sections 299 and 297 (2) (b) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.
The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge. Consequently, Justice Nico-Clay adjourned the case to November 10 for trial.
At the resumption of the trial, Olanrewaju-Daudu announced her appearance while H. O. Ogungbamila appeared for the defendant.
Adewoye, who was led by Olanrewaju-Daudu as a key prosecution witness, told the court that Ayeye, who is on remand for the crime, sent threatening messages to his wife.
"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good: His love endures forever."
He said, “The incident occurred in February 2019, I was on my way back from work around 5:30am when I got out of the Uber car and crossed a dark street in Ajah. I had my headphones on and my bag on my back.
Suddenly, a flashlight was pointed at my eyes and the defendant hit me on the head with a bottle, stabbed me twice in the back with a dagger, took all my belongings and left me bleeding on the ground.
“When I got home, I asked my wife to help me get a small phone to contact my company. She was going to help me buy a small phone when she came back and told me that someone wanted to sell a Samsung phone for N25,000
Adewoye said after realizing that the phone was just like his stolen phone, he asked his wife to contact a police officer.
He said, “When the person who wanted to sell my wife the phone came to my house, he had not changed his clothes after he and his gang robbed me. So I told the policeman that he was the one who robbed me, but he denied it.
“He said someone had given him the phone to sell. The policeman asked him to find the person who had given him the phone, but during the argument, my SIM and my memory cards fell out of his pocket.
His family members pleaded with me and asked how much he stole from me, I said N200,000. The family brought N60,000 but I refused. I told them the matter was already with the police and there was nothing I could do.
“But in 2020, the accused started sending messages to my wife from prison, threatening that he would take care of my wife when he leaves prison
The case was adjourned to Nov. 30 to continue the trial.
