NAN-H-28
Plea
By Deborah Akpede
Lagos, Sept. 21, 2017 (NAN) An unemployed man, Osita Nwatun, who pleaded guilty to stealing a ram valued at N65,000, was on Thursday changed his plea just as the was to pronounce sentence.
Nwatun was on Sept. 6 brought before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court in Lagos and was remanded at the Kirikiri Prisons, Apapa, after pleading guilty to the charge.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the court had scheduled the sentencing of the accused for Thursday.
However, when the Magistrate, M J.A. Adigun, was about to sentence him, he entered a `not guilty’ plea, saying he earlier pleaded guilty because he did not understand the charge.
Adigun, therefore, granted him bail in the sum of N50,000, with two sureties in like sum.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Sgt. Godwin Awase, told the court that the accused committed the offence on Sept. 4 at No. 616, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Ojokoro, a Lagos suburb.
Awase said the accused stole a ram valued at N65, 000 belonging to the complainant, Aruna Bameyi.
He said that the accused, who was sleeping in the ram market, stole the complainant’s ram in the night.
“The complainant discovered the following morning that one of his rams was missing, he quickly called ram sellers across Lagos and Ogun to inform them that one of his rams had been stolen.
“Luckily for him, ram sellers from Owode in Ogun called him few minutes after that they saw a man, who came with a ram on a motorcycle looking for a buyer.
“The complainant told them the mark that was on the ram and the people truly saw the number on the ram and the accused was handed over to the police,” he said.
The offence contravened Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the section prescribes three years jail term as penalty for stealing.
The case was adjourned until Oct.11 for mention. (NAN)
DOA/AAB/DA
Edited By Adeboye Ajayi/Dele Akinsola