A Kano Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday sentenced four friends to nine months imprisonment with hard labour for stealing and receiving stolen property.

The police charged Joseph Haruna, 20; Adamu Safiyanu,19; Abubakar Usman, 20, and Shitu Mohammed, 28, with criminal conspiracy, mischief, trespass, theft and receiving stolen property.

Magistrate Farouk Ibrahim-Umar, sentenced them after they pleaded guilty.

He did not give the convicts an option of fine.

Mr Ibrahim-Umar also ordered that the convicts be given three strokes of cane each.

Prosecution counsel Elias Ekainu had earlier told the court that Ibrahim Lamin, Sani Arfat, Uba Bala, Nura Abdullahi and Shu’aibu Inuwa all of Badawa Quarters Kano reported the matter at Badawa Police Division on July 29.

He said that between June and July 2022, the convicts trespassed into the complainants’ houses and shops situated at Badawa Quarters Kano and stole electrical wires, security bulbs, realer pipes and others worth N327,000.

He said Mr Usman later sold the stolen items to Mr Mohammed.

Mr Ekainu said that the offence contravened the provisions of sections 97, 327, 349, 287 and 317 of the Penal Code.

(NAN)