Labourer bags 3 months’ jail term for phone theft

May 9, 2017 4:00 AM

The convict entered the complainant’s official vehicle parked at Jabi garage on the said date at about 6 a.m. and stole his two phones valued at N42, 000.

A GSM user in Nigeria

A 28-year-old labourer,

Delivering judgment, Justice Abubakar Sadiq said since the defendant had pleaded guilty to the charge, the court had no option than to sentence him accordingly.

He, however, gave the convict an option to pay N10,000 fine, and warned him to be of good behaviour and desist from committing crimes after serving out his punishment.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Lawal, who resides around Jabi Motor Park, Abuja, was sentenced on a two-count charge of criminal trespass and theft.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Dalhatu Zannah, had informed the court that on May 3, one Cpl. Aminu Ahmadu of Army Head Quarters, Abuja, reported the case at Utako Police Station.

Zannah said that Ahmadu reported the incident for proper investigation, which led to the arrest of the convict.

He said that convict entered the complainant’s official vehicle parked at Jabi garage on the said date at about 6 a.m. and stole his two phones valued at N42, 000.

The prosecuting counsel said the convict could not give satisfactory account of the stolen phones during police investigation and interrogation.

Following the plea of the convict, the prosecutor prayed the court to try him summarily under Section 347 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.