An 18-year-old security guard, Sheriff Yusuf, has been sentenced to six months’ imprisonment by a Chief Magistrates’ Court in Mapo, Ibadan, for stealing electrical cables from his employer.
According to correspondents, Magistrate O.O. Latunji handed down the sentence on Friday, citing Yusuf’s guilty plea and the weight of evidence presented by the prosecution.
Latunji, while delivering judgment, advised the convict to desist from criminal activity upon completing his sentence, warning that repeat offences would attract stiffer penalties.
“Therefore, Yusuf is sentenced to six months’ imprisonment or to pay a fine of N30,000 as an option,” the magistrate ruled.
The police prosecutor, Inspector Oluseye Akinola, told the court that the offence took place around midnight on 29 April at Ganiyu Bello Crescent in the Felele area of Ibadan.
Akinola explained that a neighbour had spotted Yusuf removing electrical cables from the fence of his employer’s residence, owned by Princess Adeoti Ekokoti, and alerted her.
The convict was subsequently arrested and taken to the Felele Police Station, where he admitted to repeatedly stealing cables and selling them to unidentified buyers for amounts ranging between N2,000 and N4,000, depending on their length.
The total value of the stolen cables is yet to be determined by police.
The offence contravenes Section 390 (9) of the Criminal Code, Cap. 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State, 2000.
(NAN)