A Kwara State Magistrate Court, presided on Thursday, sentenced six members of a family to jail for assault, intimidation and stealing of the property of one Mr. Ajayi Oluwafemi who was the husband of their daughter, Mrs. Temitope Oluwafemi.
The court presided by Mrs Kudirat Yahaya convicted six members of the family including a father and his wife and four children and sentenced them to six months imprisonment each with an option of payment of N125,000 fine in default of the sentence.
The family members, Mr. Adedokun Paul, his wife and five children were standing trial on five counts of criminal conspiracy, intimidation, house breaking, theft and mischief and were convicted of all the charges by the court.
The offence, according to the prosecution, was contrary to and punishable under Sections 96, 396 and 322 of the Penal Code Law of Nigeria.
The convicts were prosecuted under a direct complaint following a petition written by the office of Sulyman Abaya & Co, Rahman Chambers, Ilorin, on behalf of his client, Ajayi Oluwafemi, a trader at Oja Tuntun, Baboko Market, who happens to be the son in-law to the Adedokun family.
Ajayi, through the Police First Information Report, accused the convicts who were his in-laws of invading his house, stealing cash and carting away some of his properties following a strained relationship between him and his wife.
The first Information Report stated that the seven members of the same family “on 12/6 /2024 conspired, invaded the petitioner’s house, attacked him and made away with the sum of N1.2m (N1.200.000.00), a Plasma television set, one electric kettle and one rechargeable lamp under the pretext of assisting their sister, Temitope Oluwafemi, who was the wife of the petitioner to pack her belongings.”
During the cause of the trial, the complainant informed the court that he had at different times succumbed to pressures from the elders of Ogbomoso in Baboko market and the police from different divisions where he had reported the series of attacks on him to allow the matter be settled in the family way .
He said that the convicts at different times launched a series of attacks on him and even engaged some thugs to attack him in which they took him to a bush before he was recused.
Convicting the culprits, the trial magistrate, Yahaya, found all the family members guilty of all the five offences, saying, “Their action is capable of causing chaos in the society and should not be encouraged”.
He said, ‘’No prosecution witness was discredited” during the cause of their cross-examination adding that “their evidence was also not “challenged and unshaken”.
He said that in criminal cases, counsel addresses no matter how beautifully crafted could only guide the court but could not replace the evidence before it.
Citing various authorities, the presiding magistrate said in the determination of criminal cases, three key considerations including “self admission, oral evidence and circumstantial evidence” were taken into cognisance.
Delivering the sentences, the Magistrate said that criminal conspiracy offence under Section 96 attracts six months imprisonment, or an option of fine or with both adding that intimidation offence in the Penal Code Law attracts two years imprisonment and an option of fine or with both.
“For housebreaking, according to Section 346, is one-year imprisonment, an option of fine or with both, theft five years imprisonment, an option of fine or with both and mischief, according to Section 326 of the Penal Code, is two years imprisonment, an option of fine or with both.”
She, therefore, fined all six defendants a total of N125,000 representing N25,000 each and six months imprisonment in default of the payment of the fine. He said the sentences are to run concurrently.
The court in the judgement however discharged and acquitted the seventh defendant in the case on account of being a minor when he gave evidence.
