[size=8pt][size=8pt][size=8pt][size=8pt][center]Bizman begs for time to pay restaurant’s debt .[/center][/size][/size][/size][/size]

Sunday, 01 August 2010 22:52 Usman A. Bello & Shenjobi O. Omotoyosi    .A 26-year-old businessman, Monday Solomon John, Thursday appealed to an Abuja magistrate for more time to enable him pay the debt he incurred at Sheraton Hotel’s restaurant.  Magistrate Eisape Grace Adebayo had given the businessman (accused) three weeks to pay the money and adjourned the case for ruling.

The prosecutor had earlier told the court that the accused who resides at Nyanya ate break fast at Papillion Restaurant in Sheraton Hotel on July 25 and refused to pay, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 322 of the Penal Code. He said a security officer attached to the hotel reported the incident to the police and put the bill at N3,500, adding that the accused was arrested while trying to escape without settling the bill.
When the charge was read, the accused pleaded guilty and begged for forgiveness.

“I went there to eat because my brother promised to send N10,000 to my account and I had hoped to withdraw the money from an ATM machine inside the hotel,” he said. The businessman further stated that as he was going for the money, he was arrested and begged for time to settle the restaurant bill.

The prosecutor urged the court to try the accused summarily under Section 157 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Magistrate Eisape Adebayo Grace remanded the accused in prison custody and adjourned the case to August 16 for ruling.