Court jails 19-yr-old for stealing cell phones

A Surulere Chief Magistrates' Court in Lagos State on Wednesday sentenced one Sunday Paul,19, to one year imprisonment and a day community service for stealing two cell phones valued at N65,000.

Chief Magistrate A.F Adeeyo, in her judgment, said that the sentence was without an option of fine.

Adeeyo said that after considering all the evidence before the court, it was established that the convict was guilty of the offence.

"You are hereby sentenced to one year imprisonment and a day community service for stealing," Adeeyo said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Paul was arraigned on Feb. 11 on a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.

The convict had pleaded guilty to the charge.

The prosecutor, Cpl. Jimah Iseghede, told the court that Paul committed the offence on Feb.8 at 1:30 a.m. around Iganmu Bridge onthe Lagos-Badagry Expressway in Lagos State.

Iseghede said that the complainants, Mr Akorede Kehinde and Mr Aggrey Shedrack, were returning home from a party at Rajah Area of Lagos.

``On their way back home, they discovered that their car had a fault and stopped to examine the possible fault.

" Suddenly, the convict and others still at large attacked the complainants with a gun and a knife and collected a Nokia cell phone and a Techno P3 cell phone worth N65,000.

"An eyewitness called the anti robbery team of the Nigeria Police, Orile Iganmu Divisional headquarters, which arrested the convict while others escaped," Iseghede said.

The prosecutor said that the offences contravened sections 285 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.