#CourtDiaries 1
He mans the gate of a residential building. She lives with an older relative. She visits him regularly. She’s barely 21, he’s over 30. They are an item.
After dating her for a while, he wants to get laid. She thinks the time isn’t right yet. He keeps persisting but she wouldn’t budge. He gets frustrated.
After many failed attempts, he badly wants a bite at the cherry. He decides to pull out all the stops. He buys hypnotic drugs, puts some in a drink and gives to her. She gulps the lethal cocktail nonchalantly and falls into a deep sleep.
From 11 am to 2 am - he savours her unconscious body to satisfaction while she lies helplessly like Rip Van Winkle.
After 15 hours of fitful defilement, she wakes up bleeding. She’s in shock. She asks him what has happened. He keeps mute. She goes hysterical, like a cat on a hot tin roof. She leaves the room ruined.
Weeks after, she falls ill. She resorts to self-medication, thinking it’s one of those regular illnesses. But she doesn’t seem to get any better and her condition continues to deteriorate. She then goes to the hospital. In an bleak twist of fate, she is diagnosed of liver and kidney problems. Her relatives, confused and convinced she might have an inkling of what was going on, ask her to open up. She breaks the news. She had been drugged and raped by her boyfriend.
Quivering with rage, they go all out for the gateman. They are on the war path and nobody can stop them. They teach him the lesson of his life before handing him over to the authorities. Jungle justice must apply before the law takes its course.
The matter is brought to the police. Investigation commences. The nurse who sold the drugs to the gateman is arrested. The police further heads to her former place of employment and arrest two other nurses. The pharmacy however claims the culprit had been relieved of her duties before the purported sale and as such they could not be held liable for her actions.
Trust the Nigerian police to take advantage of even the most unfortunate situation for peanuts. They insist the two innocent nurses bail themselves for ₦300K each even when there is clearly no vicarious liability of any kind.
My lawyer friend comes in at the instance of the pharmacy. After a long haul, he secures the bail of the two nurses for some change.
Meanwhile, he manages to get in with the DPO. The DPO reveals that the nurse’s family is offering ₦500K for her release. Apparently, she has some big cheese in her family. The DPO refuses the offer, as he claims the matter is beyond him. As at yesterday, the case had been transferred to the State CID.
To cap it all, the young 21-year-old girl died yesterday afternoon, making it a much messier case for the gateman and the nurse.
The police is suspecting the effects of the sedative drugs may have caused the death and a charge of murder or manslaughter may be prepared. I don’t know. But whatever is the case, it’s the judge’s call at the end of the day. The prosecution must also be able to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt.
It is, however, my prayer that justice shall prevail.
As the court pleases!
