NAN
A Jos Upper Area Court sitting in Kasuwan Nama, on Wednesday sentenced a 27-year-old business woman, Rifikatu Bello, to four years imprisonment for abetting and exhibiting cruelty to minors.
The presiding Judge, Mr Yahaya Mohammed, handed down the sentence after the convict pleaded guilty to a two-count charge of aiding and abetting cruelty to minors.
She pleaded for leniency, saying that she was a first time offender and a nursing mother.
However, Mohammed gave her an option of N10, 000 fine, after taking into consideration that all the minors have been reunited with their families and the fact that she was a nursing mother.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Mr O.S. Ocho, told the court that the case was reported on Jan.17, and transferred from the Police `A’ Division Station to the State’s Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation.
According to him, the accused was arrested and intercepted with 15 minors aged between 10 to 15 years, as she was taking them from Toro Local Government Area in Bauchi state to an unknown destination.
He said that she negligently and intentionally subjected the minors to hardship and cruelty for her selfish gain, which were contrary to Sections 29 and 238 of the Penal Code Law of Northern Nigeria.