I rather go to jail instead of paying damages, man tells judge

An Abeokuta Magistrates’ Court sitting in Isabo, turned to theatre room on Friday when 43-year-old Saburi Yusuf, accused of damaging a car and a windscreen told the court that he was ready to go to jail. Yusuf, standing trial before Magistrate Idowu Olayinka on one-count charge of malicious damage, pleaded guilty to the offence.

When Magistrate Olayinka asked the defendant if he would be able to pay for damages rather than go to prison, he said he preferred going to jail.

 “I rather go to jail instead of paying damages; I have no source of getting any money,” Yusuf said. 

However, after hearing from both the defendant and the complainant, Olayinka remanded Yusuf in prison and adjourned the case until Jan. 26, 2018 for more facts and sentence,The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports.

 Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp. Olakunle Shonibare, told the court that Yusuf committed the offence on Oct. 28 at Adu village, OGTV/Ajebo road in Abeokuta. Shonibare said the defendant unlawfully damaged the body of an Opel Sintra car valued at N38,000 and the car’s windscreen valued at N25,000 and two glasses of sliding windows valued at N30,000 belonging to Tunde Olalaye.

He said when Yusuf was interrogated after his arrest, he claimed he was sleeping by the roadside after attending a naming ceremony and was drunk “all of a sudden, I felt someone kicked me and I later discovered that it was the complainant.

“I then went to his house to damage his properties because he even undressed me.” 

Shonibare said the offence contravened Section 516 of the criminal code laws of Ogun 2006.