According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), a Kaduna Chief Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday ordered that Usman Bala be given 10 strokes and warned him to go and sin no more because the court would not spare him from going to jail next time.
The convict had pleaded profusely with the court presided over by a magistrate, Ibrahim Emmanuel to temper justice with mercy, hence the mitigated punishment.
“Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp Chidi Leo told the court that Ms Rahila Sanusi of Kano Road Kaduna reported the case at Gabasawa Police Station on April 13.
“Leo told the court that the convict committed the offence at about 6.30 p.m., on the Ahmadu Bello Way Kaduna.
“He said the handbag contained the complainant’s cell phone, IPad and other valuable items.
“The prosecutor said that during police investigation and interrogation, the convict admitted to having committed the offence.
“He said the offence contravened the provisions of Section 217 of the Penal Code of Kaduna State, 2017,” NAN reports.
Relatedly, residents of Moseaso, a community in the Amenfi West Municipality of the Western Region confronted an 8-member alleged armed robbery gang, arrested and burnt three of them alive while the remaining five, including the gang leader, are reportedly on the run.
The lynching followed the shooting and killing of a gold dealer, Frank Arthur, 51, in the community.
Residents who say they have had enough of the activities of criminals in the community decided to take the law into their hands.
Richard Arthur, brother of the murdered gold dealer confirmed the incident to Asankragwa-based Ahobrase FM.
“About 6:30 am, I started calling my brother and he was not answering so I asked someone to go and look for him at the mining site if he was there. After about ten minutes, a call came through that my brother had been shot by armed robbers so I got there immediately. I went and took him straight to the hospital but he was pronounced dead on arrival,” 3news.com quotes him as saying.
According to Arthur, while still at the hospital struggling to come to terms with the tragic death of his brother, he got information that some of the alleged criminals had been arrested by the residents and burnt alive.