A Magistrates’ Court sitting in Isabo, Abeokuta, Ogun State, has sentenced a middle-aged woman, Fatimo Mustapha, to one year imprisonment for unlawfully assaulting a personnel of the Ogun State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
Mustapha was arraigned on a two-count charge of the unlawful assault of one Shittu Azeez, the Civil Defence officer, and conduct likely to cause a breach of peace by disturbing court proceedings.
The accused person was said to have assaulted the NSCDC officer, who was assisting a female police officer, one Sergeant Udoh Magdalene, in the discharge of her lawful duties.
Counsel to the accused person, Kayode Aderemi, pleaded for leniency on the ground that the accused person had an infant and two kids she was taking care of, having separated from her husband due to the case already before the Family Court.
Meanwhile, Chief Magistrate A.I. Adelaja, who presided over the matter, found the accused guilty of the two-count charge and sentenced her to a six months imprisonment on the first count charge and one year imprisonment on the second count charge, with both terms running concurrently.
The magistrate, however, gave the accused an option of cumulative fines in the sum of N10,000 and 20,000 for both charges, respectively
Speaking on the judgement, the NSCDC spokesman for the Ogun Command, Ogbonnaya Dike, lauded the court for ensuring justice, saying the era when security operatives on lawful duty were assaulted was over.
“The judgement is in a good direction as it would send a warning signal to the public that assaulting a security official on duty is not just an offence, but a punishable one under the law” he stressed.
