A Magistrates’ Court in Kaduna, on Wednesday, ordered that a 34-year-old trader, Jibrin Yusuf, should be given 10 strokes of cane for beating his friend over N3,000 debt.
The Magistrate, Ibrahim Emmanuel, imposed the penalty after Yusuf pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy and assault.
Emmanuel held that the court would be lenient with the convict because he did not waste the court’s time by his admission of guilt.
The magistrate admonished the convict to desist from such acts as the court would not take it lightly with him next time.
Emmanuel also ordered Yusuf to pay the complainant, Abubakar Haruna N230,000 as restitution.
Earlier, the Prosecutor, Insp Chidi Leo, had told the court that on Feb. 16, Haruna, who lives in the same compound with the convict, reported the matter at the Gabasawa Police Station.
Leo said the complainant, who had sometime in the past borrowed the money from his neighbour, was quitely in his room.
On the fateful day, the convict came and demanded for his money, but Haruna could not produce it, and this led to an altercation between the two, the prosecutor said
Leo said that the convict later mobilised four boys, now at large, trespassed into the complainant ‘s room, beat him up, destroyed his property worth N50,000 and stole his brother’s phone valued at N180,000.
The prosecutor said that the offences contravened the Penal Code of Kaduna State, 2017.