Teen Sentenced to 6 Months in Jail for Stealing N450,000 Using Stolen ATM Card

A Kaduna Magistrates’ Court has sentenced a 19-year-old man, Abdulgafar Aminu, to six months in prison for stealing N450,000 using a stolen ATM card.

Aminu, who resides in Ungwan Rimi, Kaduna, was convicted of theft. Magistrate Ibrahim Emmanuel delivered the judgment, finding the defendant guilty and sentencing him to six months’ imprisonment, with an option of a N30,000 fine.

In addition, the magistrate ordered Aminu to restitute the stolen amount to the complainant, Shuaibu Dauda. He ruled that failure to refund the N450,000 would result in an additional one-year jail term.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Inspector Chidi Leo, informed the court that the complainant reported the theft at Gabasawa Police Station on June 3. According to Leo, Aminu stole Dauda’s ATM card from his shop on Kano Road, Kaduna, and used it to withdraw N200,000 and N250,000 in separate transactions.

The prosecutor added that Aminu attempted a third withdrawal of N50,000, but a suspicious POS operator intervened and questioned the transaction. When the teenager failed to provide a satisfactory explanation, he was apprehended.

During police interrogation, Aminu confessed to the crime. The offence, Leo noted, is in violation of the Penal Code of Kaduna State, 2017.