,,,,Fined N1,000 for trespass.
,,,,,”I steal yam because I am hungry”–convict.
Laleye Dipo in Minna
Mande Zaki(30) of Kuta in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, to two years in the Minna Correctional Centre for stealing a tuber of yam.
This daylive reports that the convict is also to spend another one month jail term or pay N1,000 fine for trespass.
The Chief Magistrate Aishatu Loko Ibrahim, ordered the sentences after an encounter between Zaki and the Niger State Chief Judge, Justice Halima Ibrahim Abdulmalik, who was on a prison decongestion to correctional centres in the state.
Justice Abdulmalik had been told that Zaki was awaiting trial for stealing and criminal trespass, an offence the convict owned up to.
Zaki told the Chief Judge,. “it is true that I stole a tuber of yam because I was seriously hungry when asked if he actually stole “yams”.
He added, “I stole one yam from the place when I went to search for my goat. This is the first time I am getting involved in this kind of problem. I have never stolen anything before. I was hungry and this pushed me to steal the yam, please have mercy on me.”
At this juncture,Justice Abdulmalik asked the chief magistrate to “summarily” try Zaki, which led to his conviction.
The chief magistrate ordered that the sentences should run concurrently.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
