A 24-year-old security guard, Sanni Mohammed, is to spend the next one year in jail without an option of fine, for stealing a pumping machine valued at N150, 000, an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court ruled on Thursday.
The Magistrate, Mrs O. Sule Amzat, who handed down the verdict, said the sentence should serve as a deterrent to others.
Amzat advised Mohammed, who resides with his employer at Lanre Ibitoye St., Oko-Oba, Agege in Lagos, to desist from committing crime.
The accused, who was arraigned on a two-count charge of conspiracy and theft, had pleaded guilty to commission of the offences.
He, however, urged the court to temper justice with mercy, saying he committed the crime due to ignorance and poverty.
The prosecutor, Insp. Benson Emuerhi, had told the court that the complainant, Mr. Martins Enyinaya reported the case at Agege Police Station on March 11
According to the prosecutor, the convict was recently employed by the complainant two weeks before he committed the crime.
Emuerhi said the complainant woke up to pump water in the early hours of the day to discover that the machine had been stolen.
“On inquiry, it was learnt that the guard was last seen carrying the pumping machine out of the premises,’’ the prosecutor said.
The offences contravened Sections 287 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015 (Revised). (NAN)

– Apr. 5, 2018 @ 15:57 GMT /