There was drama in court when two people who had been found guilty and sentenced got courage to correct a 'mistake' by the magistrate.
The two bravely pointed out to the magistrate that they were 'thieves' and not 'armed robbers as she had called them.
Appearing before the Isolo Magistrates court in Nigeria, Akeem Jimoh and Rafiu Afolayan were reported by PM EXPRESS to have told the presiding Magistrate, Mrs. A.O. Teluwo that “Please, we are thieves, not armed robbers”, after she had sentence them to one year each in prison.
Explaining their point, the reports stated, Akeem and Rafiu told the court that unlike armed robbers who go about their criminal acts violently by using dangerous weapons, they only go out at night to break into people’s shops and steal their valuables for sale.
The convicts emphasized that they chose to be harmless and when they visited a particular shop and the owner was around all they did was to return and come back later.
They were unlucky when with their last operation which they broke into a shop of one Mrs. Lolade Alanga at Suebatu Street Oshodi Road in Oshodi, Lagos at night and made away with items valued at N3m
While attempting to sell the stolen goods at Aswani market, they got caught after security operatives in the market became suspicious of them.
They were then handed over to the police where they admitted to stealing the items and were charged with conspiracy and stealing.
Apparently, the presiding magistrate had referred to them as armed robbers during proceedings but the convicts had remained quiet.
But after realising that the damage had already been done, they decided to educate the judge that, per their modus operandi, there is a vast distinction between them and armed robbers.
