A 23-year-old man, Tony Raphael, last Thursday blamed hunger for stealing an alternator and carburetor from a vehicle in Emmanuel Igbo’s workshop. He told an Abuja magistrate that because he had no money to eat, he stole the car parts in order to raise money to feed.
Prosecutor David Udeh had earlier told the court that on September 28, Emmanuel reported to the police that the accused of no fixed address stole a vehicle’s alternator and carburetor valued at N20, 000 from his workshop at Wuse Zone 3, Abuja.
The prosecutor said during police investigation, the accused confessed to the crime and committed an offence punishable under Section 287 of the Penal Code.
The accused pleaded guilty to the charge and begged for leniency, saying he sold the items for N700 in order to eat.
Magistrate Aminu Eri sentenced the accused to one month imprisonment or to pay N200 as fine.
The magistrate also ordered the accused to pay N10,000 as compensation to the complainant.
In another case, a 35-year-old business woman was arraigned for alleged cheating.
Charity Emueme, who resides at 10 Oluwole Lagos, was accused of collecting N3.5 million from a shop belonging to one Cynthia Ekueme without her consent.
The accused denied the charge and Magistrate Abdul Dogo granted her bail in the of N250,000 with one surety in like sum.
The case was adjourned to November 6 for hearing.
Daily Trust Tuesday 5th October 2010
Page 50
By Usman A. Bello & Zainab Shehu
