A female spa worker in the Lekki Phase 1 area of Lagos State, Olorunseunfunmi Awosogbon, is receiving medical treatment after she was reportedly attacked with a corrosive substance suspected to be acid in an incident linked to a dispute involving her employer.

PUNCH Metro gathered from interviews and court documents that Awosogbon, popularly known as Ajoke, had been assigned to a client who booked a home massage session on October 25, 2025.

The appointment was scheduled for Lakowe Golf Gate, near Utmost Care Hospital, Lakowe, where the incident occurred.

She was said to have arrived at the location in a ride-hailing vehicle when a man, identified in court filings as 37-year-old Ziaulihak Zakari, allegedly approached and poured the substance on her.

According to court documents and the spa owner, Olorunmaye Ifeoluwa, the suspect was allegedly engaged by a 25-year-old man, Owolabi Daniel, following the breakdown of a personal relationship between Ifeoluwa and Daniel.

Recounting events leading up to the incident, Ifeoluwa said she met Daniel earlier in 2025 when he booked a massage session at her spa.

“He requested that I attend to him personally. After that, he kept in touch and expressed interest in a relationship,” she said.

She explained that the relationship lasted a few months and was marked by disagreements.

“I later told him I needed space and that the relationship would not work. He continued to reach out, but I made it clear I did not want to continue,” she added.

According to her, she subsequently began receiving threatening messages from unknown numbers.

“The messages contained threats to my life. I reported the matter, but the numbers could not be traced at the time,” she said.

She also noted that suspicious home-service bookings had been made shortly before the attack.

“On one occasion, a client stopped responding after my staff arrived at the location. A similar booking came in later for the same area,” she said.

Describing the day of the incident, Ifeoluwa said, “Awosogbon called me in distress, saying a substance had been poured on her and that it was suspected to be acid. I immediately arranged for her to be taken to the hospital.”

Awosogbon was initially treated at a medical facility in Lekki before being transferred to another hospital in Ikeja for specialist care.

Ifeoluwa alleged that threatening messages continued after the attack.

“The sender indicated that the attack was not the end and that I was still being targeted. ‘I’m going to kill you soon. You deserve to be in a grave,’ among others,” she said.

She added that a private investigation later linked the messages to a known individual, after which the matter was reported to the police and an arrest made.

Undated charge sheets filed at a Magistrate Court in Ebute-Metta indicate that Zakari and Daniel are facing counts including conspiracy, alleged threats to life, and causing bodily harm.

One of the counts states that the defendants “conspired to commit a felony” under the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. Another alleges that Daniel sent threatening electronic messages, while a third states that the victim sustained injuries after a chemical substance was poured on her.

Efforts to speak directly with Awosogbon were unsuccessful as she was said to be undergoing medical procedures.

However, Ifeoluwa expressed concern over her safety, noting that Daniel had been granted bail.

“I am worried about my safety and that of my staff,” she said.

The victim’s lawyer, John Olobayo, criticised the handling of the case, arguing that the charges did not reflect the severity of the allegations.

“Based on the available information, we believe more serious charges should be considered,” he said, adding that petitions had been submitted to relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Justice.

When contacted, the father of one of the suspects, Mr Owolabi, declined to comment in detail and referred enquiries to his lawyer.

“Everything we did was through the lawyer,” he said, adding that he had contributed financially to the victim’s treatment.

Responding to questions about an alleged N60m payment for the victim’s surgery, he said in Yoruba, “Everything we have done was through the lawyer. I sold my house to pay the money. I don’t know what more is expected of us.”

Also contacted, the family’s lawyer, Omole Muritala, declined to comment on the substance of the case, insisting he would only respond if the source of his client’s contact was disclosed.

When informed that journalistic ethics do not permit disclosure of sources, he declined further comment.

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The fourth defendant in the alleged coup plot trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja, Zekeri Umoru, on Tuesday, denied knowledge of any plan to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s government, insisting in a recorded statement played in court that he was “misled.”

Umoru, an employee in the maintenance department of the Presidential Villa working with Julius Berger Nigeria, made the claim in a video recording previewed by the court as part of the prosecution’s evidence against the six defendants standing trial over the alleged plot.

Proceedings began on a sombre note, after defence counsel informed the court of the death of a colleague, U.H. Kamra, who reportedly died in a car accident after the previous day’s sitting.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik observed a minute’s silence before ordering the continuation of the trial.

In the video played in open court, Umoru told investigators that he first came in contact with persons linked to the case through the third defendant, Insp Ahmed Ibrahim, attached to the Presidential Clinic.

He said Ibrahim introduced him to a man identified as Hassan Mohammed, whom he later discovered was Col Mohammed Ma’aji.

According to Umoru, he initially believed Ma’aji was “a civilian businessman” interested in offering him electrical work at a building under construction.

The defendant recounted how he allegedly received several cash payments from Ma’aji during meetings attended by Ibrahim and another associate identified as Usman.

He told investigators that during one gathering at one Tiger Bar, Ma’aji allegedly gave “between N100,000 and N120,000” to him and his associates after buying drinks and asking about their professions.

Umoru further stated that on September 24, 2025, Ma’aji allegedly handed him a “Ghana Must Go” bag containing cash.

He said he deposited the money at a Zenith Bank branch where it was counted and found to be N8.8m.

According to him, another N2m was allegedly given the following day during a separate meeting involving Inspector Ibrahim.

The defendant said he later became uncomfortable with the repeated cash payments and demanded an explanation from Ibrahim.

He alleged that Ibrahim told him Ma’aji was unhappy with the state of the country and planned to “sanitise the government” with support from unnamed associates described as “boys.”

Umoru further claimed that Ibrahim spoke about involving “an ambulance driver” to facilitate access into the Presidential Villa, with expectations of financial reward.

Despite the claims, Umoru repeatedly denied knowledge of any coup plot.

“I was misled,” he said in the video, insisting he would have distanced himself from Ma’aji had he known he was a military officer or had “any intention beyond business dealings.”

The defendant also admitted escorting Usman into the Presidential Villa, stating that security officials allowed the visitor entry after he indicated the man was there to see him.

He added that he later saw Usman “taking photographs” in his office and warned him against it.

Umoru expressed regret during the interview, apologising to his employers and affirming support for President Tinubu’s administration.

The court also viewed another video involving an Islamic cleric, Sheikh Imam Kassim Goni, who denied involvement in the alleged coup plot.

Goni told investigators that the money he received from Ma’aji was strictly for “prayers and charitable purposes,” including spiritual interventions connected to alleged promotion setbacks.

However, investigators pointed to financial records allegedly showing transfers running into millions of naira, including a “N10m transfer” in October 2024, which they said contradicted aspects of his explanation.

The prosecution further suggested that discussions referenced in the videos, including remarks about gaining access and acquiring “work tools,” raised concerns about a broader scheme, though both individuals denied any knowledge of a coup plot.

Following the preview of the video statement, counsel for the sixth defendant and senior counsel, Michael Numa, told the court he had just received the video exhibits of his client, adding that he needed more time to go through the exhibits.

While defence counsel argued for the case to be adjourned to a further date, prosecution counsels and Director of Public Prosecutions, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), urged the court to stand by its earlier order for accelerated hearing of the case.

Justice Abdulmalik subsequently adjourned the matter to May 11, 12 and 13 for continuation of the trial.

The PUNCH reports that at an earlier hearing on Monday, the court viewed separate videos in which other defendants allegedly admitted to coded communications, meetings and reconnaissance around the Presidential Villa, but denied participating in any concrete plan to overthrow the government.

A journalist with TheCable, Olalekan Fakoyejo, has narrated how he was assaulted by a soldier following an altercation over a traffic obstruction in the Ogba area of Lagos State.

Speaking in an interview with PUNCH Metro on Monday, Fakoyejo, who is the Assistant Business Editor with TheCable, said he had boarded a tricycle from Ikeja to Ogba on Saturday when he encountered the soldiers.

He noted that the soldiers were directing traffic when the tricycle conveying him manoeuvred around the Pleasant Event Centre, off Ajao Road, Ikeja.

According to him, another tricycle had attempted to manoeuvre through traffic but was pulled over by one of the soldiers, who directed the rider to get down from the tricycle as a form of punishment.

Fakoyejo narrated, “The soldier was trying to punish a tricycle driver on a different lane. He asked the driver to step out and climb on the roof of his tricycle. What he was doing was causing traffic, and I said this is causing traffic. I was in another tricycle on another lane, which was not far from where the other tricycle was.

“The soldier heard what I said, and he dragged me out of the tricycle. He started threatening me and ordered me to go meet his colleagues who were not close to the incident. I refused to go, telling him I did nothing wrong, and he doesn’t have the right to order me to go report myself to his colleagues.

“During the period, he kept pushing me backwards towards where he said his colleagues were, then one of his colleagues came to speak to me. As I was explaining to the colleague that walked up to us, the soldier that was threatening me just slapped me immediately I turned my face towards him.”

Meanwhile, a report by TheCable stated that a video recorded by an eyewitness showed the soldier repeatedly shoving the journalist while attempting to hit him with a cudgel picked from the ground.

The report added that as the soldier pushed Fakoyejo, his phone hit the tarmac and the screen shattered.

It further noted that passers-by later urged the journalist to leave the scene to avoid further assault.

The report also stated that as Fakoyejo walked away, two soldiers accosted him and allegedly threatened to whip him while bystanders pleaded for calm.

Efforts to get a response from the Army spokesperson, Appolonia Anele, were unsuccessful as she had yet to reply to messages sent to her line as of the time of filing this report.

Instances of military personnel assaulting civilians have become a recurring concern involving the Nigerian Army, sometimes resulting in injuries or fatalities.

PUNCH Metro reported on August 27 that the Nigerian Army faced public backlash following the death of Abdulsamad Jamiu, a serving member of the National Youth Service Corps, in the Dei-Dei area of the Federal Capital Territory.

The acting Assistant Director of Army Public Relations, Odunola Olawuyi, had said the troops came under fire from fleeing suspects, leading to a gun duel in which Jamiu was caught in the crossfire.

However, the victim’s family rejected the Army’s account and demanded a public apology and justice.

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