A Lugbe Grade 1 Area Court in the FCT on Wednesday sentenced three labourers to two months imprisonment each for stealing 67 tubers of yam.
The convicts Isiaka Hassan, 21; Aminu Amodu, 25; and Sani Isah, 25, residents of Kapwa Village, Airport Road, Abuja, were sentenced for joint act and theft.
The judge, Mr Garba Ogbede, gave the convicts an option to pay a fine of N6,000 each.
He warned Hassan and the two other convicts to desist from committing crime.
The judge ordered that the 67 tubers of yam be returned to the owner.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the convicts could not pay the fine and were taken to Kuje Prison.
The First Information Report (FIR) stated that one Sakoma Yeyeyi of Lugbe Primary School, Airport Road, Abuja, reported the matter at the Lugbe Police Station on Feb. 17.
The prosecutor, Ndidi Ukaoha, told the court that the three convicts jointly went to into Yeyeyi’s farm, near River Park Estate, Abuja, and harvested 67 tubers of yam without his consent.
Ukaoha said that the convicts were apprehended and handed over to the police immediately on Feb.17.
She said that during police investigation and interrogation, the convicts admitted committing the offence.
The prosecutor said the offence contravened Section 79 and 287 of the Penal Code.
The convicts pleaded guilty to the charges and begged court for leniency.
Ukaoha, therefore, urged the court to invoke Section 347 of the Administration of Criminal Justices Act, 2015 on summary trial. (NAN)