Football Clash Turns Criminal: Ekiti Player Jailed for Bottle Attack

A 22-year-old footballer, Adeoye Martins, has been sentenced to one year imprisonment by an Ado-Ekiti Magistrates’ Court for stabbing an opposing player with a broken bottle during a football match.

Martins, who was first arraigned on December 15, 2025, on a two-count charge of assault and breach of peace, had pleaded not guilty and was granted bail in the sum of N50,000 with one surety in like sum.
Delivering judgment on Tuesday, Magistrate Olatomiwa Daramola found the defendant guilty on both counts. The court sentenced him to one year imprisonment for assault and one month imprisonment for breach of peace. However, the court gave him the option of paying a fine of N5,000 on the first count and N2,000 on the second count.
The prosecutor, Inspector Ayodeji Aina, told the court that the incident occurred on December 8, 2025, at about 4:00 p.m. at Ben Folarin Football Pitch in Omisanjana, Ado-Ekiti. He said Martins, a player with White Horse FC, stabbed Saheed Abdulazeez of Jaydyn FC on the right cheek with a broken bottle during an argument and also acted in a manner likely to cause a breach of public peace.
According to the prosecution, the offences contravened Sections 186 and 181(d) of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2021. During the trial, the prosecution called two witnesses and tendered the defendant’s statement before the court, which subsequently convicted him. (NAN)