3 men bag 10 months imprisonment, 10 lashes each for theft

Abuja, Aug. 9, 2016 (NAN) A Gudu Upper Area Court on Tuesday sentenced three men to 10 months in prison each for stealing a Mercedes Benz truck.
The presiding officer, Mr Umar Kagarko, also ordered that the convicts be flogged 10 strokes of the cane each.
Kagark, in his judgment, admonished them to desist from a life of crime, and gave the convicts an option of N100,000 fines each.
He decried the crime and said that the punishment was light because of the plea of the defence counsel.
The convicts, Patrick Okoro, a 38-year-old artisan; Jude Okafor, 31-year-old mechanic and Anthony Okoye, 30-year-old driver, all pleaded guilty to the charges.
They were arraigned on a three-count charge of criminal conspiracy, mischief and theft.
The prosecutor, Mr Augustine Urom, had told the court that Desmond Obelu of Katampe reported the matter at the Kubwa Police Division on June 14.
He told the court that the complainant reported that his Mercedes Benz truck, APP 13 XE, valued N1.8 million was stolen from where he parked it in Katampe, Kubwa.
“He had to send messages to his fellow drivers and one of them called and informed him that he saw the truck moving toward Enugu state,’’ Urom said.
He said this prompted the police to act, which led to the arrest of the convicts at Obolo Ofor in Enugu state, but their leader, Ifeanyi Chukwu escaped.
The prosecutor also said that during police investigation, the convicts confessed that they gained access into the truck after removing the windscreen.
“They, thereafter, used force to turn the steering of the truck, removed the ignition and started it manually.’’
Urom said the offence contravened sections 97, 327 and 287 of the Penal Code. (NAN)