An Area Court sitting in Jos, the Plateau State capital, on Thursday sentenced a middle-aged man, Abdullahi Usman, to 12 months’ imprisonment for enticing a married woman and blackmailing her.
The court, however, gave the convict an option of a N50,000 fine after finding him guilty of the offences.
The police prosecutor, Inspector Ibrahim Gokwat, told the court that the case was reported at the Angwan Rogo Police Station on November 24, 2025, by Hamza Aliyu, the husband of the woman involved.
Gokwat said Usman, who lives in the same neighbourhood as the complainant, repeatedly called the woman, inviting her to meet him at a hotel for an illicit relationship.
He added that when the woman declined his advances, the accused allegedly resorted to blackmail, threatening to inform her husband that she was involved in extra-marital affairs and had allegedly procured several abortions.
According to the prosecutor, the woman disclosed the threats to her husband, after which they recorded further conversations with the accused, which were later tendered as evidence in court.
The prosecutor further told the court that Usman confessed to the offence during police investigation and pleaded for forgiveness.
In her judgment, the presiding judge, Justice Irene Pati, held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, noting that the offences contravened the Plateau State Penal Code Law of Northern Nigeria, 2017, and accordingly imposed the sentence.