The police on Wednesday arraigned seven commercial sex workers in a Makurdi Magistrates’ Court for beating and stabbing an Abuja-based business man.
The suspects are Blessing Victor, Martha Joseph, Sonia Okafor, Esther Sunday, Grace John, Angela Aja and Princess Ojo, all of Express Hotel, Makurdi.
They are charged with criminal conspiracy, force, causing hurt and theft.
The prosecution, Insp. Terzungwe Kajo, told the court that Gabriel Oforma of Plot 24, Gwarimpa Estate, Phase 1, Abuja, lodged the matter at the ‘B’ Division Police Station on March 20.
He said that the accused persons and some men, currently at large, beat up Oforma, stabbed him and stole his Nokia Lumia cell phone and N34,000 cash when he went to visit a friend at Wukari Street, Wurukum, Makurdi.
Kajo added that other things stolen from the complainant were his travelling bag containing clothes and his national identity card.
The prosecutor said the offence contravened the provisions of sections 97, 265, 246 and 287 of the Penal Code.
If convicted, they are liable to eight years each in prison with an option to pay a fine.
After the charges were read to them, the suspects all pleaded not guilty.
In her defence, the first accused person, Blessing Victor, told the court that she did not steal anything from the complainant.
She added that “my only sin is that I charged the complainant N3,000 to have sexual intercourse with me for the whole night. After we did it, he refused to pay me and when I complained he said I stole his money.”
The Magistrate, Lillian Terseer-Tsumba, granted bail to the accused persons in the sum of N10,000 each and one surety each in like sum and adjourned the matter until May 7 for further mention.
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