A 32-year-old facebook lover, Hilama Paul, has been sentenced to seven months imprisonment for stealing from a social media lover.
A judge of Grade 1 Area Court in Karu, Abuja, , Hassan Ishaq, sentenced a Paul on Thursday after he pleaded guilty to a four-count charge.
Paul was arraigned on a four-count charge of theft, extortion, impersonation and criminal intimidation which contravened sections 288, 292, 132 and 397 of the Penal code.
Ishaq gave Paul an option to pay N18, 000 as fine.
He also advised those in the court to be wary of people they meet in the social media who hide under the guise of friends or lovers.
The state counsel, Mamud Ismail, told the court that Jumai Ibrahim, a resident of Lagos, had reported the defendant to Asokoro Police Station, Abuja, on Aug. 12.
Ismail told the court that Ibrahim had reported that the complainant and the convict met on the social media where they began dating.
He said the two lovers had been chatting and kept in touch on the social media for over a year when Paul told her that he was an Air force officer.
He told the court that sometimes in July, Paul deceived the complainant to come over to Abuja as he had secured a job for her.
The Prosecutor said the complainant on July 26 Paul checked the complainant into an undisclosed hotel in Garki where they both spent the night.The following day, the defendant stole the infinix note handset and a power bank both valued at N35, 000. The convict also stole her First bank ATM and threatened her into releasing her password.
“On the same day, he withdrew N100, 000 from her First bank account using an Access bank ATM machine located in Karu, Abuja,’’ he told the court.
Ismail added that the all the items and money stolen by Paul were recovered during police investigation.
Paul pleaded guilty and begged the court to temper justice with mercy.
