A Magistrates’ Court in Minna on Tuesday sentenced two men applicants to six months in prison for stealing food items.
The police charged Babadoko Abdulazeez and Olamide Abdulkadir with four counts of joint act, criminal trespass, store breaking and theft, contrary to sections 79, 248, 347 and 288 of the Penal Code laws of Niger State.
In her ruling, Magistrate Christiana Barau, sentenced Abdulazeez and Abdulkadir, after they pleaded guilty to the charge and begged the court for leniency.
Barau, however, gave the convicts an option to pay a fine of N80, 000 each.
Earlier, the Prosecution Counsel, Sgt. Stephen Iornem, told the court that the complainant, Mrs Sadikat Hassan, reported the matter at the Paiko station, Paikoro Local Government Area on Aug 14.
Iornem alleged that the convicts broke into her food store and stole one bag of rice, 25 litres of groundnut oil, one cartoon of seasoning cubes and some packets of tomato, all valued at N32, 250.
He told the court that the stolen food items were recovered from the convicts during investigation.
The prosecutor prayed the court to try them summarily in line with the provisions of Sections 157 of the Criminal Procedure Code.