Ex-convict bags five months in prison for stealing two cellphones in church

A Kubwa Grade 1 Area Court on Tuesday sentenced a 22-year-old man, Dele Ayo, to five months in prison for stealing two cellphones in a church.
The Judge, Ibrahim Balarabe, however, gave Ayo an option of N23,000 fine and warned him to desist from committing crime.
Ayo was convicted and sentenced for criminal trespass and theft.
The prosecutor, Babajide Olanipekun, told the court that one Abiodun Agboola of Redeemed Christian Church of God, Kubwa, Abuja reported the matter at the Kubwa Police Station on October 13.
He said Ayo criminally entered the said Church and stole one Techno and one Nokia cellphone valued N58,000 belonging to one Glory John.
He further said the convict got arrested while he attempted to escape, with the phones adding that the offence contravened Sections 342 and 287 of the Penal Code.
The prosecutor said the phones had been recovered, adding that Ayo had been convicted for a similar offence in court before.
Ayo, however, pleaded guilty and begged the court for leniency.