A 20-year-old bus conductor, Abubakar Shehu, has been ordered to receive 10 strokes of the cane for slapping a female passenger during a heated argument over transport fare in Kaduna.
Shehu was handed the punishment by a Kaduna Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to assault.
The Magistrate, Mr Ibrahim Emmanuel, said the court decided to be lenient because the convict admitted his offence and saved the court’s time.
But the magistrate warned Shehu not to repeat the act, stressing that the court would not show such leniency if he appeared before it again for a similar offence.
Emmanuel also ordered the convict to write an undertaking promising to be of good behaviour.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp. Chidi Leo, told the court that Shehu committed the offence on July 24 at Kawo, Kaduna.
According to Leo, the conductor got into an argument with the complainant, Hadiza Rabiu, over transport fare before allegedly slapping her twice in the face.
The prosecutor said the offence contravened the Penal Code of Kaduna State, 2017.
