The Prosecutor, Sgt. Simon Ibrahim, told
the court that the convict walked into the
First Bank branch at Rukkayat Plaza, Jabi by
Conoil in Utako, Abuja, around 2 a.m. and
dismantled the ATM machine on 21
September.
Ibrahim said that although he succeeded in
switching off the CCTV and stealing the
money, he was unable to move out of the
banking hall.
According to the prosecutor, Ojoh Godfrey
of First Bank Rukkaya Plaza Branch,
reported the matter at the Utako Police
Station on 21 September.
He said that the offence contravened the
provision of sections 287 and 347 of the
Penal Code.
The Presiding Judge, Mr Ahmed Ado, in his
judgment, sentenced the convict to four
months imprisonment or an option of five
thousand naira for the first charge and also
12 months imprisonment without option of
fine for the second charge.
The judge said he sentenced the convict
accordingly because he pleaded guilty to
the two-count charge of office-breaking and
theft.
Hassan had earlier pleaded guilty to the
two charges.
He told the court: “I used a friend’s
phone to browse on Google in order to
get the full information on how to open
an ATM machine.
“I locked myself in the toilet because the
security men sat down just by the
entrance, I promise never to repeat it.”
Responding to the convict’s guilt plea, the
prosecutor prayed the court to try the
accused summarily under Section 157(1) of
the Criminal Procedure Code.
The section states that “if an accused
admits that he has committed an offence of
which he is accused, his admission shall be
recorded.”
The section adds that this must “be as
nearly as possible, in the words used by
the accused and if he shows no sufficient
cause why he should not be convicted, the
court may convict him accordingly.”