Landlady In Court For Locking In Tenants

A 50-year-old
woman, Victoria Okoronkwo is now facing prosecution for locking her tenants in.
Mrs Okoronkwo, a landlady, appeared in a Gudu Upper Area Court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Friday for locking her tenants in, and preventing  them from going out, and was charged with wrongful restraint and inciting disturbance.
The police prosecutor, Sergeant Ambi Ayuba told the court that Ms Ngozi Nwabugwu of plot 279 Durumi Abuja and two others reported the matter at the Durumi police station.
He said that the accused wrongfully restrained their movements by locking the gate of their rented apartment and that the accused deprived the complainants from going into the house and from leaving the compound.
Ayuba said that the offence contravened the provisions of section 254 and punishable under section 114 of the penal code.
If convicted, the accused is liable to two years in prison or with an option to pay a fine or with both.
However, the accused pleaded not guilty, after the charges were read to her, while the presiding judge, Abdullahi Abdulkareem admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N50,000 with a surety in like sum who must be resident.