Sadiq Salaudeen, 24, fought with his friend over his girlfriend in Ijanikin area of Lagos which led to the victim’s death. The deceased, Tope Akinyemi was stabbed with a sharp object on the chest and has allegedly died on the spot.

Prior to the crime, he was arrested and locked up in prison since 2012 when the crime was committed and has just been arraigned in court for his sentence.

Justice Sedotan Ogunsanya of an Ikeja High Court, Lagos, after changing the initial charge of murder to manslaughter after observing that the three witnesses who testified before the court were not at the scene when the crime occurred.

She said: “The court will be relying on the statement of the defendant which showed that he had no intention to kill the deceased.

“The statement read and I quote: `I used the iron from the Hausa man’s shop to stab him on the left side of his chest. I only wanted to scare him because I was being overpowered by him and his friends; I did not intend to kill him.

“The court is satisfied that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and that the defendant caused the death of the deceased,” 

“The defendant is hereby sentenced to eight years in prison with effect from April 19, 2012.”

NAN reports that Salaudeen, who was dressed in white attire, had an expression of relief on his face after the sentence was pronounced.

Prior to the sentence, counsel to the convict, Mr K.O. Adebayo, had in his plea for leniency told the court that the convict committed the offence out of youthful exuberance.

“The defendant is a young man with an aged father who has been a widower for quite some time.

“The crime occurred as a result of youthful exuberance and there was no intention to kill.

“Since the objective of punishment is to reform and not for retribution, I plea for a lighter sentence for the convict so that he can still be useful to the society,” said Adebayo.

According to the prosecutor, Mr Adebayo Haroun, the convict, who was 19 years old when the offence was committed, stabbed one Tope Akinyemi with a sharp object in his chest during a fight.

“The deceased and Salaudeen had attended the same secondary school and knew each other.

“They developed a liking for the same girl and a rivalry developed between them which led to a fight with their friends joining.

“When Salaudeen felt that Akinyemi was gaining an upper hand in the fight, he ran into the nearby kiosk of a Hausa trader to pick a sharp object which he used to stab the deceased once in the chest leading to his death,” he said.

During the trial, the Investigating Police Officer (IPO), Insp. Festus Imoru, confirmed that the fight that led to Akinyemi’s death was caused by a female.

“During my investigations, I got to know that the two men were asking the unknown girl out and this led to a bitter rivalry between them.

“Efforts to get the name of the girl who caused the fracas was, however, abortive,” said the IPO.