An Area Court in Jos, Plateau State, has sentenced a young man, Aliyu Sani, to 30 months’ imprisonment after he admitted to stealing airtime, mobile phones and related gadgets from a shop in the state.
Sani was sentenced two months after being arraigned by the Plateau State Police, following a complaint lodged at the ‘C’ Division station by Umar Abubakar, whose valuables were stolen.
According to Police prosecutor Daniel Ijuptil, Abubakar reported that Sani and his gang broke into his shop and made away with four Itel smartwatches, eight earpods, MTN and Airtel recharge cards, and four mobile phones, all collectively valued at N1,366,000.
The prosecutor also told the court that during the police investigation, the accused confessed to committing the offence.
“During interrogation, the accused confessed to the act and admitted he participated in the theft,” the prosecutor explained, noting that the offence violated the Plateau State Penal Code Law of Northern Nigeria.
Delivering the judgement on Tuesday, Justice Irene Pati ruled that the prosecution had proven beyond reasonable doubt that the accused committed the crime leveled against him.
Pati sentenced Sani to 24 months for theft and an additional six months for conspiracy, unless he opted to pay fines of N20,000 for each offence.
