A man who collected dirty Nigerian currency notes under the pretext of changing them to new ones and never retured them, was on Wednesday sentenced to two years imprisonment. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the convict, Saheed Lawal, 33, who faced a one-count charge of stealing at a Yaba Magistrates Court, pleaded guilty.

The prosecution said Mr Lawal had, on November 20, 2010 at Marda Barracks, Sabo-Yaba, stolen N20,000 from Kudirat Lateef.

“Lawal collected N20,000 dirty currencies with a promise to change them to new notes. He, however, ran away with the money and was later apprehended by the police,” Emmanuel Ajayi, the prosecutor, told the court.

He said Mr Lawal was an ex-convict, who was only released from the prison in April 2010 for committing a similar offence. The offence, Ajayi said, contravened Section 390 (9) of the Criminal Code, laws of Lagos State. The magistrate, Olumide Fusika, sentenced Lawal to two years imprisonment without an option of fine.


I think he should have been taken to the gallows