Technician Jailed Nine Months for Abandoning Ceiling Installation Job

By Bashir Muhammad

A Jos Magistrate’s Court has sentenced a 27-year-old ceiling technician, Charles Pankyes, to nine months in prison for abandoning a ceiling installation job after partially collecting payment.

Presiding Magistrate Shawomi Bokkos delivered the judgment on Friday, following Pankyes’ guilty plea. The court summarily convicted him and offered him an alternative sentence: a fine of N20,000 or three months’ imprisonment, in addition to N170,000 compensation to the complainant or face another six months in jail if the compensation is not paid.

According to Inspector Daniel Longwal, the police prosecutor, the case was reported on January 29 at the Anglo-Jos Police Station by one Yahaya Suleiman, the complainant.

Longwal told the court that Suleiman had paid Pankyes a total of N491,000 to install Plaster of Paris (POP) ceilings in his house. However, the technician allegedly spent N321,000, failed to complete the work, and then absconded.

The prosecutor noted that the offense contravenes provisions of the Plateau State Penal Code Law.