31-year-old man jailed 30months for stealing N22,400 phone

In Nigeria, it's easy for one to go to prison if he/she steals a phone than when a big looter steals 47 cars. All you hear when it involves looters is, he has forfeited them to FG. Why can't poor men just forfeit stolen phones to FG and the government get them jobs to feed themselves?

An Abeokuta Magistrate’s Court in Ogun, on Wednesday, sentenced 31yrs old Rotimi Adekunle to 30 months imprisonment for stealing a phone.

Adekunle, who resides at 35, Olomore Housing Estate, Abeokuta was arraigned on March 31, 2016, on a two-count charge of stealing and unlawful possession of a blackberry phone he could not account for.

According to the prosecutor, Insp. Olakunle Shonibare, the accused committed the offence on March 29, 2016, at about 9:30 am, at Camp Junction in Abeokuta.

Insp. Shonibare said that Adekunle removed a Samsung Galaxy phone, valued at N22,400, from the bag of one Miss Balogun Lateefat, while she was waiting for a cab at the junction.

He said that the accused was sighted during the act by one Mr Shakiru, a member of the Road Transport Employer Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), who was on duty at the junction.

The prosecutor said that during the time of his arrest, other phones and the Samsung phone were found on him.

He further alleged that the convict had been stealing phones at the same junction.

“On March 30, 2016, the accused was sentenced to two years imprisonment with an option N20,000.

“The next day, being March 31, 2016, the accused was again arraigned over Balogun lateefat’s phone,” he said.

Shonibare said that the offence contravened Sections 383, 390 and 436 of the Criminal Code, Vol. 1, Laws of Ogun, 2006.

The presiding magistrate, Mr Idowu Olayinka, in his judgment, said that the accused was an ex-convict arraigned over the same offence of stealing.

“With the evidence tendered in court, the prosecution has proved its case and the accused has been found guilty of the charges against him,” he said.

Many politicians and permanent secretaries have houses in Abuja and other states that their salaries can't afford. Go after big looters as fast as you do to jobless Nigerians. That is justice.