After he pleaded guilty to stealing a motorcycle, a 27-year-old man, Obinna Kingsley, was on Monday sentenced to 60 days in prison by an Upper Area Court sitting in Masaka, Nasarawa State.
Kingsley, who lives in Nyanya Gwandara in Nasarawa, was tried for criminal trespass and theft.
He pleaded guilty to the two counts.
The judge, Yakubu Ishaku, who handed down the verdict on Monday, gave the convict an option to pay N10,000 fine.
“Based on the voluntary admission of guilt and plea for leniency by the convict, I hereby sentence him to two months imprisonment.
“The punishment will serve as a deterrent to youths who have chosen the life of crime, instead of facing their studies or look for work to do,” he said.
He said the punishment would have been stiffer if the convict has had any previous record of conviction and urged him to desist from committing crime.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Kingsley, had pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Sgt. Frank Swem told the court that on Aug. 7, Kabiru Ismaila, of same address with the accused, lodged a complaint against Kingsley at the Divisional Police Headquarters, Masaka.
Swem said on the same date at 5.30 a.m, the complainant woke up and discovered that his motorcycle valued at N75, 000 had disappeared.
Ismaila later traced the stolen motorcycle to the house of the accused, he raised alarm and the accused was immediately arrested, he said.
The offences contravened the provisions of Sections 287 and 348 of the Penal Code. (NAN)