ABUJA – A Chief Magistrates’ Court in Abuja on Wednesday sentenced a farmer, Ibrahim Afolabi, 22, to three months in prison for snatching a woman’s handbag.
Afolabi, of no fixed address, was charged with joint act and theft.
The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Idayat Akanni, sentenced Afolabi after he pleaded guilty to the charges.
She, however, gave him an option of N1,000 fine.
The chief magistrate said: “Although you admitted to the crime and begged for leniency, you must be punished in order to serve as deterrent not only to you but also to future offenders.
“I hereby sentence you to three months in prison with a fine option of N1,000,’’ Akanni said.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Cpl. Simon Emmanuel, had told the court that Mrs Adenike Akinola of Gwarinpa Estate, Abuja, lodged the complaint at the Life Camp Police Station on March, 19.
Emmanuel said on March 18, the accused stole the complainant’s handbag while she was driving from the Federal Staff Hospital to Gwarinpa Estate.
He said while on transit, Adenike slowed down at a speed bump and the accused and two others now at large, grabbed her handbag from the car and ran to an unknown destination.
He said the hand bag contained N100,000, one Lumia Nokia phone valued at N40,000 and other valuable documents.
The prosecutor said the accused was arrested by the police but only the document were recovered. (NAN)
