The magistrate, O.O. Fadairo, sentenced each of the convicts to one month’s imprisonment, without an option of fine, after they pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and stealing.
Earlier, E. O. Adaraloye, an inspector of police, told the court that the convicts and others, still at large, committed the offences on 30 March at about 2.00 a.m. at No.7 Ibukun Oluwa Street, Itele, Ota.
Mr Adaraloye said that the convicts and their accomplices stole two chickens, valued at N70,000, belonging to one Bello Kolawole.
He said that the offences contravened Sections 390(9) and 516 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ogun, 2006.
The speed of the trial, spanning just days from arrest, and the conviction of the suspects highlight the lopsided nature of Nigeria’s criminal justice system.
The system allows high-profile suspects accused of stealing or mismanaging billions of naira in public funds to hire the best lawyers to stall their cases in court or deploy technicality to escape conviction.
Nigeria’s correctional centres are peopled by mostly awaiting trial inmates, many of who are under-privileged persons who cannot meet their bail conditions, undergoing protracted trials or just held for cases the authorities are not enthusiastic about.
The Nigerian Correctional Service’s latest records, last updated on 24 March, show that 66 per cent, of the 79,669 inmates across its prison facilities in the country are awaiting trial. This amounts to 52,771 inmates in prison facing or still waiting to be tried.
Only 34 per cent, that is, 26,898 inmates across Nigerian prisons are convicted.
