Fake Soldier Sentenced to 6 Months in Jail

Lawal Babangida, 31, was sentenced to six months in prison on Thursday by a Grade I Area Court in Dei-Dei, Abuja, for impersonating a military official.

The court charged Babangida, who lives in Tungamaji village, Abuja, with impersonation, criminal intimidation, and extortion.

The convict, however, pleaded guilty to the charge and begged the court for leniency.

“Please forgive me, my lord. I plead for mercy, sir. I will not commit any crime again’’ Babangida said.

The Area Court judge, Saminu Suleiman thereafter, gave the convict an option of a N6,000 fine, warning him to desist from committing a crime after serving their punishment.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Mr Chinedu Ogada, informed the court that on Nov. 11 the complainant Usman Zaiyanu of Tomato Junction Zuba Abuja reported the matter at Zuba Police Station.

Ogade noted that on the same date at about 9:30 pm, the convict approached the complainant at Zuba Tomato Junction and introduced himself as a military officer.

The prosecutor told the court that the convict criminally threatened the complainant and stole his cell phone and N10,000 cash, saying that the convict made confessional statements during police investigations

He said the offence contravened Sections 132, 321 and 292 of the Penal Code.