A Magistrate’s Court in Kuje, Abuja, on Wednesday sentenced Miss Ogbu Maryam, 23, to 12 months imprisonment for sneaking six cell phones into Kuje Prison.
Magistrate Okeagwu Azubike sentenced Maryam to 12 months in Suleja Prison, after she pleaded guilty to sneaking into the prison with six Nokia phones and four SIM cards.
News Agency of Nigeria reports that Azubike, however, gave her an option of N4,000 fine for each count.
The convict, who resides at Mashafa Road Mpape, Abuja, was arraigned on four counts of criminal trespass, abetting, attempt to commit an offence and possession of stolen property.
“Maryam pleaded guilty to sneaking into Kuje Prison with six Nokia cell phones and four SIM cards without giving any reasonable account of them.
“You have an option to pay the sum of N4,000 for each count, totaling N16,000 or remain in Suleja Prison in Niger State for 12 months,” Azubike said.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Corporal Ocheche Samuel, told the court that ASP Usman Abdulahi, attached to Medium Security Prison Kuje, arrested and brought the convict to the Kuje Police Station on March 4.
“On March 4 around 3.30pm, Maryam went to Kuje Prison under the pretext of visiting her brother Victor Ogbu, who is awaiting trial for culpable homicide.
“She brought her brother some fruits and Indomie noodles. But when she was searched by the officers on duty, six new Nokia cell phones and four SIM cards were found concealed beneath the cooked Indomie,” he said.
Samuel said when Maryam was interrogated, she could not give a satisfactory account of the phones.
He said that the offence contravened the Penal Code.
When the charges were read before the court and its implications, counsel to the convict, Ecto Okanya, pleaded with the court for leniency, saying that she was a first-time offender with no criminal record.
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