Woman, 23, jailed for sneaking 6 phones into Kuje prison

Magistrate Okeagwu Azubike sentenced Maryam after she pleaded guilty to sneaking into the prison with six Nokia phones and four MTN SIM cards.
Azubike, however, gave her an option of N4,000 fine on each count of criminal trespass, abetting, attempt to commit an offence and possession of stolen property.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Cpl. Ocheche Samuel, told the court that ASP Usman Abdulahi, attached to Medium Security Prison Kuje, arrested and brought the convict to the Kuje Police Station on March 4.
“On March 4 at about 3:30 p.m., Maryam went to Kuje prison in pretence to visit her brother Victor Ogbu, who is in prison awaiting trial for culpable homicide.
“She brought her brother some fruits and Indomie noodles and when she was searched by the officers on duty, six new Nokia cell phones and four MTN SIM cards  were found concealed beneath the cooked Indomie,” he said.
Samuel said that when Maryam was interrogated, she could not give satisfactory account of the phones.
When the charges were read to the accused person, she pleaded guilty and her counsel, Ecto Okanya, begged the court for leniency, saying that she was a first-time offender with no criminal record.