An Area Court in Jos, Plateau, has sentenced two farmers, Samaila Zanko and Umar Abubakar to three months imprisonment each for assault and extortion.
The prosecutor, Monday Dabit told the court that the matter was reported at the office of the Police Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Jos, by the complainant, Malam Saudi Abdullahi on September 11 , 2023.
He said the convicts invaded the complainant’s house, beat him up, demanded N3 million from the complainant as a “settlement fee” and threatened to beat him up again if he refused to comply.
Dabit said that the offence contravened the provisions of the Plateau Penal Code.
Justice Shawomi Bokkos convicted Zanko, 24 and Abubakar, 36 on Friday after they pleaded guilty to assault and attempted extortion.
Bokkos sentenced them to three months separate jail time, but gave each of them an option to pay a fine of N10,000.
In other news…
CorrectNG recalls that in October, about 30 farmers were abducted in the Chikuri community of Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
A source identified as Dogara Peter, who confirmed that his mother and his sister were among the victims, said the sad incident happened in the early hours.
The source said the victims were abducted while working on Maikudi’s Farms. According to him, this was the third time people were kidnapped in his family, noting that it has destabilised their family economically.
Peter said; “Our community has been thrown into confusion as we have yet to establish any contact with the abductors.
“We want the security agencies and the government to swing into action and ensure our people return safely.
“We have nowhere to raise money for any ransom, the whole community is traumatised by this sad situation. Our last hope lies in the security agencies and the government”.
