21st December, 2011
An Abuja Senior Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday sentenced a farmer, Idi Usman (23), to one-month imprisonment for stealing ugu vegetables from the farm of Rose Augustine.
However, Senior Magistrate Bashar Alkali gave the accused an option of N1,000 fine.
The Police prosecutor, Paul Anigbo, told the court that on December 19, Augustine of Dabi Kwali Village, Abuja, reported at the Lugbe Police Station that she caught the accused who was her security guard on December 17, stealing ugu leaves valued at N2,000 from her farm.
He said that Augustine claimed that a large quantity of ugu leaves worth N500,000 had previously been stolen from her farm.
He said that when Usman was questioned, he could not give a satisfactory account of the incident.
The prosecutor said the offence was contrary to section 288 of the Penal Code Law.
The accused who pleaded guilty, begged the court for mercy. Alkali ordered that the accused should pay N2,000 as compensation to the complainant or face a jail term of one month if he defaulted.