Akara

It might have been an act of alms-giving but it turned into a court case, as 50-year-old Muslim cleric, Mohammed Yusuf and his teenage daughter, Salamat Yusuf, were on Tuesday arraigned at a Tinubu Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, for allegedly distributing poisoned Akara balls to beggars.

According to the report by News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, The Yusufs are facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and attempted murder, as the beggars whom they gave the local snacks to found needles in the Akara balls.

The Prosecuting State Counsel, Barr. Ben Ekundayo in his statement, told the court that the defendants committed the offences on Aug. 5 at about 2 p.m. at Offin Street, Balogun, on Lagos Island. He alleged that the man and his daughter carried out the act with intent to endanger the lives of the beggars.

“The Muslim cleric, sent his daughter to give the beggars near the mosque the bean-cakes, but when one of them (the beggars) opened the bean-cake, he found needles in the middle. “Other beggars were notified; one of them, who know the daughter and the school where she teaches, led them there and she was apprehended.”

“She also led them to her father,” Ekundayo said.

Ekundayo said that the offences contravened Sections 228 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Meanwhile, the defendants had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

By Oluwakemi Abimbola