Justice Sa’ad Moh’d of State High Court 2, Gombe, Gombe State, on Monday, March 25, 2019 convicted and sentenced one Kingsley Obi to one month imprisonment with N20,000.00 option of fine.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Gombe Zonal Office had same day, arraigned Hans Friday and the convict, Kingsley Obi on a two-count charge bordering on criminal conspiracy.
Count one of the charges reads, “That you, Hans Friday and Kingsley Obi sometime in December, 2017 in Gombe, Gombe State within the Jurisdiction of this honourable court did agree between yourselves to do an Illegal act, to with; theft of money, in the sum of N48,000.00, being property of Mr. Grace Nasiru from her account number 9904378542 domiciled in Sterling Bank without her consent and converted it to your own use, thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 96 and punishable under Section 97 of the Penal Code law, Laws of the Northern Nigeria”.
Obi, who is the second defendant, pleaded guilty to the charge, while Friday, the first defendant pleaded not guilty.
In view of Obi’s guilty plea, prosecution counsel, Abubakar Aliyu, urged the court to convict and sentence him.
The prosecution counsel, however, withdrew the charges against the first defendant and asked the court to strike out the case against him.
Obi was convicted and sentenced accordingly by the judge, while the charge against Friday was struck out in accordance with the prosecutor’s plea.