Husband, Wife Sentenced To 3 Months Imprisonment For Fighting In Public

An Abuja Upper Area Court in Gwagwalada on Thursday sentenced a couple, Ibrahim Suleiman, 35, and Taiye Sunday, 31, to three months imprisonment each for fighting in public.

The judge, Alhaji Babangida Hassan, however, gave the couple an option to pay N15,000 fine each after they pleaded guilty to the charge and begged for leniency.

"The court finds both you, Ibrahim Suleiman and Taiye Sunday, guilty of the offence of disturbance of public peace for which you admitted to have committed.

"You are hereby sentenced to three months imprisonment each on the charge, with an option to pay N15,000 each as fine,'' the judge pronounced.

The prosecutor, Insp. Martha Paul, had earlier told the court that the convicts were arraigned on April 15 on a one-count charge of disturbance of public peace.

He told the court that the couple had on April 14 and April 15 at about 8.00 p.m. engaged themselves in a physical combat at the Wazobia Park in Gwagwalada.

He said that the offence which contravened Section 113 of the Penal Code attracts a three-year jail term.

Following the convicts' plea of guilt, the prosecutor urged the court to try them summarily. After the sentence was pronounced on them, the couple could not hold back their tears.