Businessman Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Calling Adamawa Governor ‘Father of all thieves’

A Yola Chief Magistrate Court II, presided by Magistrate Japhet Basani, has convicted and sentenced a Numan-based businessman, Ali Yakubu Numan, to a two-and-a-half-year jail term for calling Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri ‘Father of all thieves.’

Numan was sentenced on Wednesday to a two-year jail term with the option of a N50,000 fine for using abusive language against Fintiri. He was also sentenced to six-month imprisonment without the option of a fine for disturbance of public peace.

The Punch had reported that a businessman, who allegedly, described Governor Fintiri, as ” a thieve and father of thieves was remanded in prison custody following his arraignment by the Attorney General of Adamawa State for defamation.

In ruling on the case on Wednesday, Magistrate Basani said the court arrived at the verdict after it found the man guilty of the two charges brought against him by the prosecution. Numan had on the the11th, 12th, 13th, 17th, 20th and 29th July 2021, wrote and published insulting statements in Hausa and Fulfulde languages on his Facebook page against the Governor.

He described Governor Fintiri in the publication as a thief and father of all thieves in Nigeria who stole indomie, spaghetti and hundreds of billions from state coffers.

Earlier, counsels to the complainant, A. M. Iliyasu, and M.A. Adamu, called 2 witnesses who testified in court and tendered confessional statements in both English and Hausa languages respectively among other exhibits.

On his part, counsel to the defendant and now convict, R. N. Agav, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, informing the court that his client is a first-time offender