A 52-year-old man, Mohammed Lawal, was yesterday sentenced to six months imprisonment for picking a senator’s pocket inside a hotel in Abuja.
Lawal was said to have pretended to beg for money from his victim, Senator Emmanuel Nkwocha, as the senator made his way into the venue of an event at the hotel and dug his hand into the senator’s pocket. The pick-pocket was said to have dropped the money on the floor when he was apprehended.
Police Prosecutor, Abdullahi Adamu, had told the court that the matter was reported at Wuse Zone 3 Police Station by Abdullahi Kabiru of Prescort Village, Abuja on September 18, 2012.
Adamu said that during investigation, the convict confessed to the offence, which he said, ‘contravenes the provisions of Section 287 of the Penal Code.’
Delivering judgment in the case held at an Abuja Senior Magistrates’ Court, Magistrate Ann Akobi sentenced the convict without an option of fine after listening to the First Information Report on the one-count charge to which the accused pleaded guilty.