Phone snatcher bags eight years’ jail

The Enugu State Police Command has secured the conviction of a male phone snatcher, who was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for conspiracy and five years for robbery, with both sentences to run concurrently.

This was disclosed on Saturday in a statement signed by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Daniel Ndukwe, on the official Facebook account of the command.

The statement said, “On October 8, 2026, at about 8 p.m., Ejike Nnam (male, aged 34), a resident of an unfinished building at Nkpokiti, Enugu, allegedly snatched an iPhone XR valued at N240,000 from a female victim along Bisalla Road, Enugu, alongside an accomplice who remains at large.

“Nnam was promptly arrested and arraigned the following day before the Enugu North Magistrate Court, where he pleaded guilty and was convicted. He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for conspiracy and five years for robbery, with both sentences to run concurrently.”

The police said in a separate case, a 29-year-old man, Richard Chukwuma, was arrested on October 7, at about 6:50 pm at a popular supermarket in Enugu, on suspicion of stealing a bottle of Jameson Green Whisky valued at N30,150.

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“During interrogation, he reportedly confessed to having earlier stolen 15 bottles of the same whisky from the supermarket. He was arraigned on October 9, 2026, and subsequently remanded at the Enugu Correctional Centre.

“The State Commissioner of Police, CP Mamman Bitrus Giwa, psc, mspsp, smicm, commended the Chief Magistrate for the prompt dispensation of justice in the phone-snatching case. He called for the sustained and expeditious conclusion of police cases before courts across the State, noting that timely adjudication strengthens public confidence in the justice system and supports effective crime prevention,” it added.