A Magistrates’ Court in Kafanchan, Kaduna State, on Thursday sentenced a 40-year-old unemployed man, Chibuzo Emmanuel, to three years imprisonment for receiving stolen train batteries and cylinders.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, charged Emmanuel alongside Adamu Danbaba, 52, with theft and receiving stolen property.
The NSCDC prosecutor, Mr Marcus Audu, told the court that a complaint was made at the Corp’s office by the Nigeria Railway Corporation, North Central District, Kafanchan, on May 13.
Audu stated that Danbaba, a railway staff member, stole two train batteries and 12kg cylinders from his office and sold them to Emmanuel for N24,000.
The offense, he noted, contravened the provisions of sections 271 and 302 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law.
When the charge was read to the defendants, Emmanuel pleaded guilty and begged the court for leniency while Danbaba denied the charge against him.
The prosecutor prayed the court to try Emmanuel summarily and asked for another date to call witnesses to prove the case against Danbaba.
In his ruling, magistrate Michael Bawa sentenced Emmanuel to three years imprisonment and ordered that Danbaba should be remanded.
Bawa adjourned the case until June 24 for hearing.