A Nasarawa State High Court has convicted a lecturer at the Federal University of Lafia (FULafia) Fred Ayokhai for assaulting a female student Blessing Mathias.
In October 2022, a video surfaced on social media showing Ayokhai ripping off Mathias’ cloth with scissors.
Mathias was also flogged and dropped off naked in the bush.
The police subsequently arrested Ayokhai and his daughter Emmanuella, who allegedly orchestrated the attack on Mathias for “snatching” her lover.
The FULafia lecturer was charged with criminal conspiracy, housebreaking, abduction and voluntarily causing grievous hurt without provocation and assault.
Emmanuella, Bob-Praise and Saint-Dan, all children of Ayokhai, were joined in the case.
Although the defendants pleaded not guilty upon arraignment, their counsel AU Idris approached the court with an offer for a plea bargain.
Delivering judgment on April 20, Justice Solomon Ayenajeh convicted the lecturer and sentenced him to six months in jail for criminal conspiracy and another six months for assault.
The charges are to run concurrently.
The judge also said the six months period in which Ayokhai has been in the custody of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) will be reckoned with.
Ruling on the offence of the children, the judge said they will spend six months on probation considering their ages.
The judge said they will be tasked with keeping the premises of the Nasarawa State High Court clean during their sentence.
The judge also directed the third defendant, Bob-Praise, to shave his dreadlocks.
In his allocution, the FULafia lecturer thanked the judge and parties in the matter for the consideration and the leniency accorded him.
He added that he has taken steps to compensate the victim as part of the plea bargain arrangement.
