Drama In Court As Complainant Bursts Into Tears, Begs On Behalf Of Convict

• Nominal complainant begs leniency for dry cleaner sentenced to prison
• The dry cleaner was sentenced to one month in prison with seven days in jail and three weeks of community service
• The complainant says dry cleaner is his only caregiver and that he would die without him

A nominal complainant, Mr James Bassey, broke down in tears to beg leniency for a dry cleaner, Pius Savoir, who was sentenced to one month in prison for stealing a pressing iron and N20,000.

Following his guilty plea and presentation of the facts of the case, Chief Magistrate Patrick Adekomaiya sentenced Saviour.

In sentencing the convict, the chief magistrate stated that the court would be lenient because he is a first-time offender.

Saviour was sentenced to one month in prison, with seven days in prison and the remaining three weeks spent at Morogbo Police Station, where he would report daily for community service.

Bassey burst into tears immediately after the sentence and begged the convict to be pardoned.

My Lord, I don’t have wife or children, it is this convict that always takes care of me.

He used to help me to do all my domestic work and massage me, but the habit of stealing my things is too much, that is why I reported him when he stole my money and pressing iron.

If you sentence him to prison now, nobody will be assisting me and this could lead to my death, he said.

Earlier, the prosecutor, ASP Ikem Uko, told the court that the convict committed the crime on July 6, around 7:00 p.m., at Yeponnawa Str. Church-Gate, Lagos.

He claimed that the convict stole a pressing iron and N20,000 from the complainant, Bassey.

According to the prosecutor, the offence violated Section 287 of the Lagos Criminal Law of 2015.

Court Declines To Nullify APC Primary, Dismisses Adeyemi’s Suit

The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, dismissed a petition filed by a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, Smart Adeyemi, against the emergence of Usman Ododo as the party’s candidate at the recent primary election.

In the litigation marked: FHC/CS/556/2023 in Smart Adeyemi v. APC & 2 Ors, the plaintiffs sought the court to disqualify the primary of the APC for Kogi governorship election, which produced Ododo as the candidate for the election set for November.

They called the APC’s direct primary election, which produced Ododo as the party’s candidate for governor, illegal. Amongst others, they contended that the election of Ododo ran foul of Section 177 of the 1999 Constitution.

They also asked the court for an order compelling the Independent National Electoral Commission to reject and refuse to recognise Ododo as APC’s governorship candidate.