Petty Thief: Court jails 2 labourers for 6 months for stealing yam

Yaqub warned them to desist from committing crimes and ordered that the tubers of yam be returned to the owner.

A Mararaba Grade 1 Area Court, Aso Pada in Nasarawa State, on Friday, December 29 sentenced two labourers to six months imprisonment each for stealing 50 tubers of yam.

The judge, Upside Yaqub, however, gave the convicts, Habibu Kabiru, 25; and Salisu Hamidu, 22, both residents of Old Orange Market Mararaba, an option of N5, 000 fine each.

Yaqub warned them to desist from committing crimes and ordered that the tubers of yam be returned to the owner.

The convicts had pleaded guilty to a four-count charge of criminal conspiracy, trespass, mischief and theft.

Following the guilty plea, the Prosecutor, Agabi Auta, urged the court to try them summarily under Section 347 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.

Earlier, Auta had told the court that the complainant, Utume Clement of Kudu village, Mararaba, reported the incident at the ‘A’ Division Police Station, Mararaba, on December 22.

He said that the convicts and one Musa Iliya, now at large, went to the complainant’s farm at Kudu village, Mararaba, and harvested 50 tubers of yam.

The prosecutor said the convicts were apprehended while trying to put the yam in a sack and were handed over to the police immediately.

He said the offences contravened Sections 79, 347, 348 and 287 of the Penal Code.