A high court in Okoita, in the Akwa Ibom State’s Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area, condemned two thieves to 28 years in prison apiece.
The defendants, Nsikan, 28, On January 10, 2023, Justice Okon Okon, the presiding judge, convicted Friday Tom, also known as Nokia, and Augustine Gregory, 27, for robbing a passenger who was attempting to board a tricycle at Okokon Etuk Street in Uyo.
Daniel Okon, the third defendant, was cleared by the court of all three counts of conspiracy, armed robbery, and membership in an illegal organization.
The court found the pair guilty of two out of the three counts, Justice Okon declared during the 30-minute long verdict.
Therefore, he decided that the sentences should run consecutively and gave them 21 years in prison for robbery and seven years for conspiracy.
The victim’s Lenovo laptop and Gionee M5 phone were stolen from him by the two convicts on August 7, 2016, the court said, even though the prosecution had not established that a pistol was used in the crime.
“There is no statute incriminating or punishing the making of confessional comments to the police anywhere,” the judge remarked in discharging and clearing the defendants of the charge of membership in a hidden cult.
The defendants admitted to being members of an illegal society at the police headquarters in Ikot Akpan, Abia, the court explained, which was why the prosecution sought their conviction.
After the verdict, the inmates’ family members sobbed hysterically on the court grounds.
