Musa Umar Bologi
27 June 2008
A contractor, Paul Eme, was recently arraigned before a magistrates' court sitting in Bwari for allegedly hitting one Mr. Sunday Peter with a plank.
The prosecutor said the accused person gave a job to the complainant which amounted to N124, 000 but only paid N85, 600. He said the accused person hit the complainant with a plank when he demanded the remaining balance of N38, 600.
The accused, who spoke through his lawyer, denied hitting the complainant with a plank. He said that he only implored the complainant to do the job according to the agreement they arrived at.
The complainant's witness, Oladele Joseph, said he was present when the accused person committed the offence. He said he also witnessed whenever the accused person paid the complainant, adding that he signed as a witness when the accused person paid the first payment of N85, 000.
He revealed that he did not separate them when they were arguing over the balance and that he did not know whether the accused person sustained injuries as a result of the hit.
Answering questions from the accused person's lawyer, the witness denied neither being present when the complainant gave the accused the quotation of the job, nor having any knowledge of other transactions between them prior to the one he was involved.
"I don't know when they signed their contract neither do I know the term of the contract. I only came here to testify on what I know," he said.
The counsel to the accused made a no-case submission before the court. He said his client had no case to answer on the basis that he employed the complainant for a job and paid, and that the complainant was unable to prove that he was actually hit with a plant by the accused.
The case was adjourned to July 10 for ruling.
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