Two lovers, Emem Asuquo and Olugbenga Yakubu, have been remanded in prison by a Tinubu Magistrate’s Court sitting on Lagos Island for alleged public disturbance.

They were arraigned on Wednesday on four counts of assault and conduct likely to cause breach of the peace before Magistrate A.A. Adefulire.

PUNCH Metro learnt that an altercation broke out after 31-year-old Asuquo insisted that Yakubu, 51, use a condom before having sex with her, but he reportedly declined the request.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Yakubu, while driving along the Lekki-Epe Expressway at about 7pm on July 6, had offered Asuquo, who was going towards Lakowe in Ibeju-Lekki, a ride.

They were said to have exchanged phone numbers and promised to meet each other later in the night.

Yakubu, a civil servant, was said to have picked up the hairdresser at her home in Ajah around 2am the next day and took her to his house on Adeyinka Oyekan Street, Abraham Adesanya Estate, Ajah.

“On getting to his house, he entertained me after which we went inside his room. He said he wanted me to have sex with him. I told him I would collect N30,000 and he agreed. I asked him to use a condom but he said he did not have one. So, I told him to take me back home in his car,” Asuquo said.

She explained that the man dropped her off at VGC Roundabout, saying he did not have enough fuel in his car.

She said she called a taxi driver to pick her up from the area.

It was learnt that a scuffle ensued when she requested Yakubu to wait for her until the taxi driver arrived for fear of being robbed.

“When he refused, I removed his car key. He was beating me when the taxi driver and two others arrived and they intervened. He injured me in the eye. I also used a stone to smash the windscreen of his car,” she added.

Our correspondent learnt that Yakubu later reported the incident at the Ajah Police Division, and Asuquo was arrested.

 Yakubu, in his statement to the police, said Asuquo had called the driver and other occupants of the taxi to beat him up, adding that he sustained injuries.

He said, “She followed me to my house, but refused to make love with me after buying her drinks. At a point, she started screaming that I should take her back to her house. When we got to the roundabout, she removed my car key and held my shirt. Two men and a lady she called came in a Golf car and started beating me.

“I held Asuquo by the hair and began punching her while the two men did same to me. In the end, they injured me and broke the windscreen of my car.”

A police prosecutor, Inspector Philip Osijale, subsequently arraigned the duo before the Tinubu Magistrate’s Court on four counts of assault and breach of the public peace.

Osijale told the court that the charges contravened sections 54, 171, 349 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

The charges read in part, “That you, Emem Asuquo, and others now at large on July 7, 2016, at about 3.30am at VGC Roundabout, Ajah, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did willfully damage the windscreen of one unregistered Carina E with a stone.

“That you, Olugbenga Yakubu, on the same date, time and place, in the aforementioned magisterial district, did unlawfully assault one Emem Asuquo by hitting her with a fist blow in her left eye, which did her harm, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 171 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.”

The defendants pleaded not guilty to the counts.

The magistrate, Adefulire, admitted Asuquo to bail in the sum of N500,000 with one surety, while Yakubu was admitted to bail in the sum of N200,000 with a surety in like sum.

Adefulire held that they should be kept in prison until they perfect their bail conditions.