Man accuses friend of stabbing him, theft

Simon Stephen, who accused his friend, Nafiu Mua’azu, of being a thief, today, told a Gwagwalada Upper Area Court in the FCT that the friend stabbed him on the chest with a knife.

Stephen, who was led in evidence by the prosecutor, Insp. Martha Paul, told the court that he caught Mua’azu “red handed” when he broke into his father’s house on March 13, to steal.

“I caught my friend, Mua’azu, at about 2.30 a.m. when he entered my father’s house to steal.
“I recognised him and called his name and when he noticed that I had seen him, he used a knife to stab me on the left side of my chest.”

The witness told the court that he was later taken to the University Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, where he spent N200,000 on treatment.

Mua’azu, a resident of Anguwan Dodo in Gwagwalada, was earlier arrested and arraigned on a four-count charge of joint act, criminal trespass, causing grievous hurt and theft, but he denied the charges.
The prosecutor had told the court that the accused and one other now at large, criminally trespassed into the compound of the complainant of the same address with intention to steal.

She said that when the accused was caught, he stabbed the complainant with a knife on the left side of his chest, leading to serious bleeding and hospitalisation.

The presiding judge, Alhaji Babangida Hassan, adjourned the matter to July 9 for continuation of hearing.