An Apapa Magistrate’s Court sitting in Lagos on Monday told an accused stowaway to go and sin no more based on the circumstances surrounding his intention of illegally boarding a ship at Tin Can Island Port.
The accused, a 25-year-old man identified as Pedro Desmond Peter had pleaded guilty after he was arraigned before an Apapa Magistrate’s Court for boarding a ship without purchasing ticket.
The port police prosecutor, Sergeant Adeniyi Balogun said the defendant and one other at large entered the ship named MT Glenda Melissa with the intention of travelling to Europe without purchasing ticket or being a passenger of the ship.
According to the prosecutor, the offence is punishable under section 400 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria 2015.
Narrating the circumstances that led to his boarding the vessel, the accused said, “I left my parents in Abuja to Lagos for a better source of livelihood. Since I did not get, I joined a boat driver to work as boat conductor. Not too long, I was lured to board a ship that would convey me to Europe.”
Magistrate A.S Okubule tempered justice with mercy considering the facts that the accused had been remanded in Kirikiri prison for 12 days. She told the accused to “go and sin no more” and advised him to reunite with his parents in Abuja.
