CYRIACUS IZUEKWE
A 22-year old man, Mohammed Abdul Hamid, has been sentenced to five years imprisonment without an option of fine for buying N2.19m stolen property from a security guard, which he stole from his boss in Lagos State.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that it was the judgment of the Presiding Magistrate, Mrs. O. O. Fagbohun of the Ogba Magistrate Court.
The convict, who resides in the Ayobo area of Lagos, had pleaded guilty to the two-count charge of conspiracy and receiving stolen property under the Criminal Laws of the State.
While giving the judgment, the Magistrate, Fagbohun, sentenced the convict to serve at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre for five years without an option of fine and noted that the sentence would serve as a deterrent to others who might want to commit similar crimes in future.
The Prosecutor, Inspector Felicia Okwori, had earlier told the Court that the offences were committed between June 2023 at 56, Captain Davies Road, Ayobo, Lagos.
Okwori said the convict received stolen property from one Mohammed Awalu, security guard to the complainant, Mrs Omolola Idowu.
The prosecutor also disclosed that Awalu is currently serving his jail term on the same offences at the Correctional Centre at Kirikiri town and further explained that the convict and others still at large stole the complainant’s property when she travelled.
The prosecutor listed the stolen property, which included two gates valued at N540,000, window protectors worth N870,000, a power generator worth N300,000, ceiling fan worth N25,000, gas cooker valued at N375,000 and pumping machine valued at N85,000, all totalling N2.19 million.
According to the prosecutor, the offences contravened Sections 328 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, which attracts several years of imprisonment.