An Area Court in Jos, the Plateau State Capital, on Wednesday sentenced John Shedrack, 26, to three months imprisonment for stealing 100 chickens valued at N300,000.
The judge, Shawomi Bokkos, sentenced the convict after he pleaded guilty to the offence and begged the court for leniency.
Bokkos gave the convict an option of a N20,000 fine or three months imprisonment and asked the convict to pay a compensation of N300,000 to the complainant or six months imprisonment in default.
Earlier, the police prosecutor, Insp Monday Dabit, told the court that the case was reported at the Rantya Police Station on June 19 by Mr Ikechukwu Egwuonwu.
He said the accused person trespassed into the complainant’s poultry farm and stole his chickens.
The prosecutor further told the court that during the police investigation, the accused confessed to having committed the offence.
The offence, he said, contravened the Plateau State Penal Code law of Northern Nigeria.