A Karmo Grade 1 Area Court, Abuja, on Tuesday sentenced 10 men to two weeks imprisonment each for loitering.
The men – Emmanuel Hassan, Bagu Ayuba, Nicholas Jeremiah, Uchenna Hysinth, Tunde Musa, Daniel Abel, Paul Bago, Adeniyi Oladepo, Nicholas Titus, and Awalu Usman, were arraigned on a charge of constituting public nuisance.
The convicts were accused of loitering around Gwarimpa area, Abuja, an offence they admitted committing.
The judge, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq, however, gave the men an option of N2,000 fine each and warned them to desist from committing crimes.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Florence Auhioboh, told the court that a police patrol team attached to Gwarimpa Estate, Abuja, led by DSP Solomon Adebayo, arrested the men on March 25.
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Auhioboh said that the men were arrested while loitering at an area in Gwarimpa notorious for committing of crimes.
She said that when the police quizzed the men, they could not give satisfactory explanation of their mission in the area.
The prosecutor said that the offence committed was punishable under Section 183 of the Penal Code.
The men who pleaded guilty prayed the court to temper justice with mercy as they did not know the area was a black spot.
