A 31-year-old man, Lawal Babangida, has been jailed by a Grade I Area Court in Dei-Dei, Abuja, for impersonating a military officer.
Babangida, who lives in Tungamaji village Abuja, was on Thursday sentenced to six months imprisonment for the offence.
He was charged with impersonation, criminal intimidation, and extortion but he pleaded guilty to the charge and begged the court for leniency.
“Please forgive me, my lord, I plead for mercy, sir. I will not commit any crime again’’ Babangida said.
The Area Court judge, Saminu Suleiman thereafter, gave the convict an option of N6,000 fine, warning him to desist from committing a crime after serving their punishment.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Mr Chinedu Ogada, informed the court that on Nov. 11 the complainant Usman Zaiyanu of Tomato Junction Zuba Abuja reported the matter at Zuba Police Station.
Ogade noted that on the same date at about 9:30 pm, the convict approached the complainant at Zuba Tomato Junction and introduced himself as a military officer.
The prosecutor told the court that the convict criminally threatened the complainant and stole his cell phone and N10,000 cash, saying that the convict made confessional statements during police investigations
He said the offence contravened Sections 132, 321 and 292 of the Penal Code.
Meanwhile, police in Lagos on Thursday arraigned a 45-year-old man, Fatai Enuosi, before a Badagry Chief Magistrates’ Court for alleged N650,000 land fraud.
The defendant, whose address is unknown, is charged with a three-count charge of felony, fraud, and stealing, to which he pleaded not guilty.
Police prosecutor ASP Clement Okuoimose told the court that the defendant committed the crime on February 2, at about 4.00 pm, in the Ibereko community in Badagry, Lagos State.
According to the prosecutor, the defendant conspired to commit a felony by obtaining money under false pretence.
“Enuosi fraudulently obtained N650,000 from Mrs Christiana Akinyele, the complainant, to sell a plot of land to her, which he failed to do.
“The defendant fraudulently converted the money to his own use without the consent of the complainant,” he said.
Okuoimose said the offences contravened Sections 411, 314 and 287 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State (2015).
The Chief Magistrate, Mr Fadahunsi Adefioye, granted the accused bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.