Convicted 31-yr-old man gets nine-yrs jail term for fleeing court

A 31-year-old Adamawa resident, Mallam Zakaria, will serve nine-year prison term following his attempted escape from a chief magistrate’s court after the court sentenced him to two years’ imprisonment upon conviction for abandoning a woman he impregnated.

  The convict, an indigene of Pariya village in the Fufore Local Government Area of Adamawa State, was earlier charged with deserting one Maryam Usman, of Anguwan Yungur, whom he impregnated.

Maryam, on June 16, 2021, lodged a complaint at the Divisional Police Headquarters in Girei that Zakaria impregnated her, adding that after she broke the news to him, he started avoiding her and also stopped taking her calls.

The woman also claimed that the convict conspired with the operator of a pharmacy, Sunday Assoga, to remove the pregnancy after he resurfaced with the chemist, who unsuccessfully administered abortion pills on her, which failed to remove the pregnancy.

The convict, who was arrested by the police and charged to court on June 18, 2021, admitted to committing the crime, while his alleged co-conspirator was left off the hook at the resumed hearing of the case on June 28, 2021.

Magistrate Adamu Abdulrazak, while ruling on July 2, the adjourned date of the case, convicted and sentenced the defendant to two-year imprisonment, with an option of fine of N150,000.

But shortly after his conviction, Zakaria, who asked for permission to urinate, fled the court.

The convict scaled the court’s fence and was chased by the prosecutor and other security personnel, who caught him with the assistance of pedestrians and bystanders around the government house gate.

Irked by his action, the magistrate recalled his case file and invoked Section 138 of the state penal code and slammed him with seven years’ jail term for attempted escape, totaling nine years in prison without any option of fine.