Court’s verdict

A Nigerian beef suya seller, Halilu Abdulahi, on Wednesday at an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, pleaded guilty to an attempt to slice the throat of a four-year-old girl.

Abdulahi, 40, was arraigned before Chief Magistrate A. O. Ajibade on a two-count charge of attempted murder and unlawful assault.

The accused pleaded guilty to the charges preferred against him.

The Prosecutor, Sgt. Hafsat Ajibode, told the court that the accused committed the offences on Aug. 18 at 5.35 p.m. at No. 1, Denton St., Ebute Meta.

She said the accused lured the four-year-old girl, Alimat Durojaiye, with biscuit while she was playing with her peers and had attempted to slice her throat with a knife.

“The accused had fled with the child to whitesand area in Oyingbo market where he attempted to cut her throat with a knife.

“A passerby, Muritala Mahmud, who heard the screaming of the minor, had rushed to save her, and in the process got his left hand bitten by the accused while trying to escape,” she said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the offences contravened Sections 173 and 230 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 (revised).

Ajibade has fixed Sept. 11 for facts and sentence.