Gladness Gideon
A High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti has sentenced a 41-year-old auto mechanic, Olasunkanmi Kareem, to life imprisonment for attempting to murder his former boss by setting him ablaze during a dispute over a missing carburetor.
Kareem was convicted on one count of attempted murder in violation of Section 241 of the Ekiti State Criminal Law, 2021. The court found that he deliberately doused Omoboriwo Bashiru, his former master, with petrol and set him on fire in an ambush attack at Ifaki Ekiti on August 11, 2024.
Bashiru, a seasoned mechanic, recounted to the court how his former apprentice-turned-attacker had called him around 8 p.m. that fateful evening, inquiring about a carburetor he had once repaired. When Bashiru said he had no knowledge of its whereabouts, Kareem allegedly became aggressive, threatening to burn him alive.
“I didn’t take his threat seriously,” Bashiru testified. “Later, I called him, and he told me where he was. I went to meet him, only to be caught in an argument I never saw escalating. Unknown to me, he had a gallon of petrol hidden in the dark. Before I realized what was happening, I was on fire.”
He recounted how he frantically tried to escape, eventually falling into a drainage, where passersby rushed to his aid and extinguished the flames. He suffered severe burns and was rushed to a hospital for urgent medical care.
The prosecution, led by Kunle-Shina Adeyemo, presented compelling evidence, including Kareem’s statements, graphic images of the victim’s injuries, and a medical report detailing the extent of the burns.
Delivering judgment, Justice Jibril Aladejana dismissed any notion of spontaneity, emphasizing that Kareem had meticulously planned the attack.
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“The defendant lured the victim to a location, ambushed him behind an electric pole, and doused him with petrol before setting him on fire,” the judge ruled.
Aladejana concluded that the intent to cause grievous harm was clear and that only the intervention of bystanders prevented a fatal outcome.
“In my view, the defendant does not deserve leniency. He should face the full wrath of the law,” the judge declared before sentencing Kareem to life imprisonment.
The ruling sends a strong message on violent crime in Ekiti State, reinforcing the legal system’s commitment to ensuring justice for victims of attempted murder.