A 22-year-old carpenter, Ezekiel Malachi, on Wednesday bagged 17 months for stealing 57 ceiling fans from a school in Abuja.
Malachi was sentenced to spend the next 17 months at a custodial centre by a Lugbe Grade 1 Area Court, Abuja, presided upon by Malam Aliyu Kagarko as the judge.
The convict, of Iddo Sarki Village, Airport Road, Abuja, had earlier pleaded guilty to a two-count charge of criminal trespass and theft. Kagarko, however, gave him an option of a ₦50,000 fine, warning him to desist from committing crimes in the future.
He said the punishment would have been stiffer had the convict not saved the court from the rigours of a protracted prosecution. Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Steven Osho, said that the complainant, Zamai Yuzu, of LEA Primary School, Iddo Abuja, arrested and brought the convict to the Iddo Police Station on March 5.
According to Osho, the convict had on March 4 criminally trespassed into the school premises, stealing 57 ceiling fans and two DVD players, with value yet undetermined. The prosecutor said that during police interrogation and investigation, the convict confessed to the crime, resulting in the recovery of four ceiling fans.
The offences, said Osho, contravened Sections 348 and 287 of the Penal Code.
