An Upper Area Court in Gwagwalada, FCT, on Monday sentenced a 38-year-old man, Danjuma Yaro, to 10 months imprisonment for selling a fake plot of land.
The convict, who resides in Pasali village, Kuje, FCT, was charged with criminal breach of trust and cheating after selling the land for N1.5 million.
The Judge, Sani Umar, in his ruling sentenced the convict after he pleaded guilty and begged the court for leniency.
Mr Umar, however, gave the convict an option to pay a fine of N10,000 fine for each offence or in default serve a jail term of five months on each offence which would run consecutively.
“The reason for this sentence is that the convict did not waste the time of the court in telling the truth, he has shown remorse for the act.
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“His counsel has also sought an option of fine, he is a first time offender and has certain responsibility as a father,” he held.
The judge, however, awarded N1.5 million as compensation as prayed by the Prosecution Counsel, Abdullahi Tanko, on behalf of the nominal complainant.
He said the compensation was not in lieu of prison but a reasonable instalment payment, and warned the criminal to desist from committing crime.
The complainant, Dele Ani of No 61 Kayarda extension layout, Kuje, had reported the crime at the police Gwagwalada Area Command office on January 28.
He reported that the convict and one Yahaya Idris, who is standing trial before the same court, on February 2, 2021, conspired and sold a plot of land to the complainant located behind LEA secretariat measuring 100 by 100 ft for N1.5 million.
The complainant was later to discover that the land belonged to another person.
The defence counsel, Owobu Godday, in his plea for allocutus, prayed the court to temper justice with mercy, saying that the convict was a family man and the bread winner, and prayed the court to grant his client an option of fine.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
