24th July, 2017
A Karmo Grade 1 Area Court in the FCT, on Monday sentenced a 33-year-old dry cleaner, Auwal Usman, to three months imprisonment for stealing two pots used for cooking Burukutu, a local drink.
Usman, a resident of Utako village, Abuja, who was arraigned for theft of the two pots, pleaded guilty to the charge and begged for leniency.
The judge, Abubakar Sadiq, however, gave the convict an option to pay a fine of N10,000.
He warned Usman to desist from criminal activities and ordered him to pay N25,000 as compensation to the complainant.
He also ordered that the recovered pots be returned to the owner.
The First Information Report (FIR) stated that one Charity Bulus of Utako village, Abuja, reported the matter at the Utako Police Station on July 13.
The prosecuting counsel, Mr Dalhatu Zannah, told the court that 11 big pots used in brewing the local drink valued N66,000 belonging to the complainant had disappeared from June 24 to date.
Zannah informed the court that the convict criminally went to the complainant’s shop on July 13 and stole the two pots valued at N11,000.
He said that the convict was apprehended and handed over to the police immediately for proper investigation.
Zannah said that during police investigation and interrogation, the convict admitted committing the offence.
The prosecutor said the offence contravened Section 287 of the Penal Code.
He, therefore, urged the court for summary trial in line with Section 347 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.