Ekiti woman jailed seven years for mutilating lover’s genitals over alleged infidelity

By Boye Oyeyemi

A 35-year-old woman, Joy Ikoja, has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment by an Ekiti State High Court in Ado-Ekiti for inflicting grievous injuries on the private parts of her lover, Ibrahim Usman.

Justice Oyinkansola Oluboyede found Ikoja guilty of causing grievous harm but discharged and acquitted her of attempted murder, citing that the prosecution failed to prove any intention to kill the victim.

The prosecution, led by Felix Awoniyi, told the court that the incident occurred on April 12, 2025, at Irona in Ado-Ekiti after the defendant allegedly caught Usman in bed with her friend, Ayomide Mayowa, whom she had accommodated in their home.

According to the prosecution, the relationship between the trio deteriorated after Usman allegedly began a secret affair with the woman. In the ensuing confrontation, Ikoja allegedly grabbed the victim’s genitals, causing severe injuries that exposed his testes.

Awoniyi said Usman was initially treated at the Police Cottage Hospital in Okesa before he was referred to the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital after the injury became infected. He added that the prosecution called four witnesses and tendered the defendant’s confessional statement, medical report and other exhibits during the trial.

The defence counsel, Adeyinka Opaleke, urged the court to dismiss the charges, insisting that his client only had a minor altercation with the complainant and denied making any confessional statement.

In her judgment, Justice Oluboyede held that the medical evidence, police testimony and the defendant’s statement sufficiently established the offence of causing grievous harm beyond reasonable doubt, describing her defence as an afterthought.

The judge stressed that acts of violence could not be justified under any circumstance and said the maximum seven-year jail term prescribed under Section 255 of the Ekiti State Criminal Law, 2021, would serve as a deterrent to others. She added that the sentence excludes the period already spent by the convict in custody.