A 20-year-old school dropout, Marvelous Sunday, was on Tuesday sentenced to two years in jail with hard labour for stealing plantain valued at N24,000.

Sunday was arraigned before Yaba Chief Magistrate’s Court for stealing the plantain on three different days from a trader, Mrs Esther Akatakpo, at the Mende Market, Maryland, Lagos.

The prosecutor, Inspector Emmanuel Essien, had told the court that the convict had on July 12, 15 and 17 broke into the trader‘s shop at midnight and stole the plantain.

Essien claimed that Sunday was apprehended while committing the act the third time and was identified by Akatakpo.

But Sunday told the court that he dropped out of school in 2006 due to financial constraints and came to Lagos from Onitsha, Anambra, to look for greener pasture.

The accused explained that he used the money given to him by his father, who is serving in Onitsha, to go back to school in transporting himself to Lagos.

He pleaded guilty to the one-count charge of stealing.

The Magistrate, Aderemi Gbajumo, adjourned the case till August 8 for hearing.

just imagine this,later the 20 yrs old plantain stealer who should have been given a suspended sentence and community service in a country where the judiciary are not stupid and senseless,will come out 2 years later as a hardened criminal and graduate to armed robbery,i really dont know what the problem is with our judiciary,if it is elections tribunial they will collect bribes and look the other way

Nairaland,  on one hand the accused was sentenced in a rediculous manner after pleading guilty to the one count charge of stealing yet in the same story you wrote that the Magistrate adjourned same til August 8 for hearing, pure contradiction,  what do we believe?
Out of curiousity I conducted a search and found that the said Magistrate does not preside over the mentioned court and the court records where she does preside has no record of the case mentioned. her prosecutor is also a yoruba man unlike the story mentioned.
This is a clear case of unjustly attempting to malign the court system and the Magistrate.
Nairaland to what purpose?
Get your facts straightand desist from this unwholsome pracitce forthwith.