25th January, 2017
A Kado Grade 1 Area Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, sentenced a 37-year-old commercial driver, Ikechukwu Egbeji, to 29 months in prison for criminal breach of trust, misappropriation, cheating and mischief.
The judge, Alhaji Mohammed Ado, however gave Egbeji an option to pay N17,000 fine for three-count charge, but said he must serve the last punishment of 10 months in prison.
Ado, who warned Egbeji to desist from committing crimes, ordered the convict to pay
N400,000 to the nominal complainant.
The convict, who resides at Jabi village, Abuja, was convicted for the four-count charge levelled against him.
Egbeji prayed the court to temper justice with mercy, saying it was the devil that pushed him into committing crime, and he promised to be of good behaviour.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Judith Obatomi, told the court that an information was received by a team of police officers led by Sgt. Titus Jigah attached to Mabushi police station in Abuja about a Golf 3 car which was dismantled on Jan. 17.
Based on the particulars of the car found on the ground, Egbeji was traced and interviewed and he confessed that Sunday Nsude of Karmo, Abuja, gave him the car for commercial use in October 2016.
Egbeji, who was to give Nsude N3,000 daily for the commercial use of the car, however, failed to comply with the agreement and instead, sold the engine of the car for N20,000 and the body of the car for N30,000.
Obatomi said Nsude the owner of the car said he had been looking for the convict, an offence punishable under sections 312, 309, 322 and 327 of the Penal Code.