The Nation Newspaper

Tag: stealing

  • RRS arrests ‘Legion officer’ for ‘stealing’ four motorcycles

    RRS arrests ‘Legion officer’ for ‘stealing’ four motorcycles

    Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) have arrested a legionnaire for posing as an official of the Lagos State Taskforce on Special Offences to rob motorcycle riders in Agege and its environs.

    The suspect, Umam Hrmid, 48, from Borno, a Second Lieutenant of the Lagos State Command of the Nigerian Legion, was arrested on Friday evening around 10:30pm by RRS operatives in Agege after dispossessing one Amin Al–Hassan of his motorcycle.

    The suspect, who was working with his accomplice, Tijani Bashir, now at large, had accosted his victim, Al–Hassan, at Total Filling Station, Agege and introduced himself as a policeman attached to the Lagos State Taskforce on Special Offences.

    He allegedly told his victim that he was impounding his motorcycle for plying restricted area and for operating at prohibited hour.

    The Nation learnt that Al–Hassan pleaded for negotiation but Hrmid insisted his victim must bring N20, 000, but the motorcyclist offered N5, 000 which the suspect rejected.

    “When he refused to accept the N5, 000, he mounted the bike and rode it towards Iyana-Ipaja. I begged him but he told me to get down from the bike because I sat behind him while his partner rode the bike they brought,” Al–Hassan told RRS.

    “He rode through Agbotikuyo; At  Mulero, I forced the bike to a stop by removing its key from the ignition, and I got down.  We were arguing when two passers-by joined us and they requested for his identity card when he told them that he was a policeman with the task force. Reluctantly, he flashed his ID card before them but one of them was so swift to snatch it from him. Then, he began to chase the guy, who quickly ran towards a RRS patrol team nearby who arrested him and collected the dagger he was holding,” he added.

    At the RRS’s Headquarters, three other victims from whom Hrmid had collected bikes weeks before he was caught came with particulars of their bikes, alleging that Hamid, along with an accomplice, whom they described, took their bikes.

    The victims, Shuaib Abdullahi, Umaru Hassan and Salisu Umaru, stated that the suspect collected their motorcycles in a spate of three weeks, and that one of his victims was shot at a close range in the cheek at Shoretire Street, Agege.

    Abdullahi told RRS that the suspect around 9pm on Wednesday last week, took his bike marked FKJ 259 QA, Boxer model, from him, under the pretext that he was taking him to the task force office.

    “He drove me to Ile–Zik before threatening me to get down or he would kill him at the deserted place. I requested for his number and he gave me a fake number. I called the number immediately he left but the number didn’t go. I learnt he was arrested yesterday, that was why I came to RRS to collect my Okada from him,” he was quoted by RRS.

    The suspect, however, failed to deny the allegations of the three other victims when they confronted him.

    Police spokesperson Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police (SP) said Hrmid’s arrest might help to shed more light on reported cases of motorcycles theft in Agege and its environs.

    The suspect, she said, has been transferred to Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) for further investigations.

  • Two held for ‘stealing’ batteries in LASTMA yard

    Two held for ‘stealing’ batteries in LASTMA yard

    The Rapid Response Squad (RRS) has arrested 24-year-old Hakeem Fatai for allegedly stealing batteries from the Ojota Area Office of Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA)

    Its operatives, who acted on a tip-off by the LASTMA’s management about the missing batteries from their premises, laid siege for the suspect and caught him while attempting to remove another battery from an impounded bus.

    The Nation learnt that over 20 batteries have been removed from impounded vehicles parked withing the authority’s premises within two weeks.

    On arrival at the RRS’ Headquarters, the suspect owned up that he operated with an accomplice he identified as Yahoo, now at large.

    RRS quoted him as saying: “Yes I am responsible for the missing batteries. But I didn’t work alone. We are two and our targeted vehicle was Volkswagen bus because its batteries can be removed easily without much stress. We don’t usually go for trailer for its battery is protected with burglary”.

    The suspect, who was picked-up around 2am on Friday by the operatives, said that he always scale the agency’s fence to access the compound and remove the batteries while his accomplice stayed outside.

    “We have devised our operation to the extent that no one could suspect us while committing the crime inside the premises. We know the exact time to scale the fence because their security guards are too fond of sleeping. We capitalised on their inefficiency to strike,” he said.

    The RRS led him to arrest the receiver of the stolen items, Nofiu Oriade, 46, on Saturday.

    According to the RRS, Oriade claimed ignorant of the crime, saying that he never knew those batteries were stolen items.

    “I was ignorant of the sources of those batteries. I thought he was a scavenger who picked up any unused items from refuse dump. I don’t know he is a thief. I have regretted my action to have been collecting those batteries from him,” he said.

    Police spokesperson Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent (SP) said the suspects have been transferred to Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) for further investigation.

  • Court sentences labourer to ‘transport’ two buckets of water 100 times for stealing

    Court sentences labourer to ‘transport’ two buckets of water 100 times for stealing

    For stealing a cell phone valued at N6,000, a labourer was yesterday sentenced to “carry two buckets filled with water up and down a staircase 100 times,’’ by an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court, Lagos.

    The labourer, Chikwandu Alo, 28, was sentenced by Chief Magistrate B.O. Ope-Agbe as he admitted committing the offence.

    She said the convict would learn his lessons after he serve out his sentence.

    “I order that the convict should fill up two buckets with water and carry them up and down a stair case a 100 times,’’ she said.

    Prosecuting Sergeant Jimah Iseghede had told the court that the accused stole the cell phone from a van.

    “The complainant saw him and raised an alarm and the accused was apprehended,’’ he said

    The offence contravened Section 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

  • RRS arrests athlete, 14 others for ‘stealing’ school computers

    Rapid Response Squad (RRS) operatives have arrested 15 suspects over an alleged stealing of seven computers and its accessories at Angos Memorial Senior High School, a public school in Somolu.

    The operatives also recovered four mini laptops, a LaserJet scanner, a desktop and a printer belonging to the school.

    The suspects were arrested on Wednesday morning when RRS Intelligence Team stumbled on a lead that one of the suspects was lurking in a gaming shop on 29, Awoseni Streets, Somolu.

    On interrogation, the suspect, who turned out to be a buyer of one of the stolen mini laptops designed for secondary school pupils, led to the arrest of a 19-year-old principal suspect, Yinka Adesola, and 13 others.

    Adesola, an athlete, told RRS that one Julius Akinyele, 20, a phone repairer, who he accommodated, brought seven mini laptops, 1 scanner, 1 desktop, a CPU and a LaserJet printer belonging to the school for keep in his apartment.

    RRS quoted him as saying: “I knew he was a wayward guy. I accommodated him because his relatives whom he was staying with were relocating from Somolu. I offered to assist him since I had an apartment to myself.

    “He was my junior in secondary. He was one of my fans while I was representing my school and Local Governments.

    “Immediately he joined me, a lot of things started missing in the compound, neighbours were losing their phones. Later, we discovered that he was the one stealing all the phones. My parents told me to eject him and I did.

    Arrested along with the suspect were Lookman Sokoya, 34, Wasiu Adejare, 30, Ismaila Adebowale, 42, Ramon Mukaila and a 17-year-old boy.

    According to RRS, only six out of the 15 suspects arrested were directly connected to the theft in the school.

    Four of the suspects were released to their relatives while the remaining five suspects were detained for their link to cult activities in Somolu.

    The suspects, Kazeem Adenuga, 24, Owolabi Yusuph, 35, Wasiu Shodipe, 27, Samson Kareem, 34 and Sheriff Badru, 22, were arrested when investigators discovered that they were involved in ceaseless violence in Awoseni Street on Tuesday night.

  • Banker charged with stealing customer’s N952, 857

    The police have accused a former Syke Bank transaction officer, Jolayemi Olawale, of reactivating a customer’s dormant account and stealing N952, 857 from it.

    Olawale, 35, whose address was not given, was arraigned yesterday before Mr. B. A. Sonuga of an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.

    He is standing trial on a two-count charge of fraud and stealing.

    Prosecuting Inspector Ingobo Emby said the defendant committed the alleged offence between last December 29, and January 4, at Syke Bank Plc, Alaba Branch, Lagos

    He alleged that Olawale used his position at the bank to reactivate a dormant account number 1010327078 belonging to one Adebayo Akeem.

    The court also heard that the defendant fraudulently changed Akeem’s phone and pin numbers and requested for an ATM card for that account, through which the money was withdrawn.

    “The defendant fraudulently withdrew the sum of N952, 857 from the account after reactivating it,” Emby said, adding that the amount was then stolen.

    The alleged offences were said to contravene Sections 285 and 335 (a) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

    Kolawole denied the charge.

    The defendant’s counsel, Mr Bamidele Ajabaluku, urged the court to grant him bail on liberal terms.

    Magistrate Sonuga granted Olawale N1 million bail, with two sureties in the like sum.

    He ordered the sureties to deposit N200, 000 in the account of the court’s Chief Registrar and adjourned till August 30.

  • Father, son, remanded in prison for stealing

    A 61 year-old man, Taiwo Adebiyi, and his son Tope Adebiyi, 20 were on Friday remanded in prison custody by an Ado-Ekiti Magistrate’s Court over alleged burglary and stealing.

    The accused were arraigned on  two-count- charge of burglary and stealing.

    The police prosecutor, Sergeant Oriyomi Akinwale told the court that the accused committed the offence on June 12 at about 2230 hours at Aisegba-Ekiti in Gbonyin Local Government Area of Ekiti state.

    He alleged that the accused on the said date unlawfully broke into the house of one Bolajoko Daramola and stole money and other valuable property.

    According to him, the accused committed an offence punishable under Section 4(1)(2) of the Criminal Code,Cap C 16 Law of Ekiti State.

    The plea of the defendants were not taken as their counsel,Mr Gbenga Bejide sought for a short date of adjournment pending the issuance of advice by the Directorate of Public Prosecution.

    Magistrate Taiwo Ajibade consequently ordered that the accused persons be remanded in prison custody.

    She adjourned the case to July 4, for mention.

  • Two bankers charged with stealing customer’s N14.4m

    Two bankers charged with stealing customer’s N14.4m

    The police have accused two ex-employees of Ecobank Plc, Aghanenu Ikechukwu and Stephen Nduka, of forging and stealing N14.4 million from a customer.

    Ikechukwu, 41, and Nduka, 36, were arraigned yesterday before Mr P. A. Adekomaya of the Igbosere Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.

    They are standing trial on a four-count charge of conspiracy, forgery, stealing and conversion.

    Prosecuting Inspector Ingobo Emby said the defendants and others at large committed the offence between last September and November at Ecobank Plc.

    He said the defendants with intent to defraud, forged the instruction of the customer, Oluremi Egunjobi Christina.

    Emby alleged that Ikechukwu and his accomplices, who are at large, last September 24, “fraudulently converted the sum of N10million from Ecobank account number 274112825, belonging to a customer, Rabiu Oladimeji Lawal, to another Ecobank account number 5322000255, belonging to one Okeneme Samuel”.

    It was alleged that the first defendant and others at large last September 28 “fraudulently forged and liquidated the customer’s investment into account number 5323007058 to the tune of N4.14 million property of the bank.”

    The defendants denied the charge.

    Magistrate Adekomaya granted them N3 million bail with two sureties each in the like sum.

    He adjourned the case till July 11.

  • Ex-Access Bank worker bags 39 years for stealing from dead customer

    Ex-Access Bank worker bags 39 years for stealing from dead customer

    AN Ikeja High Court yesterday sentenced a former worker of Access Bank, Olawale Garuba 35, to 39 years imprisonment for stealing from a dead customer.

    He will, however, spend three years in jail, as the sentence will run concurrently.

    The convict was sentenced to three years in prison for each of the 13-count charge against him.

    He and five others were charged before Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye in July last year, with conspiracy and stealing.

    The offence is punishable under Section 285 (1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.

    The other defendants are Festus Onile, Abiodun Afainiya, Jayeola Afolabi David, Yewande Adeyemi and Adetoun Kammal.

    The defendants were arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), following a petition from the bank, alleging fraudulent transfers and withdrawals of N31million through Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and Point of Sale (POS), from the dead customer’s account.

    The defendants pleaded not guilty.

    But on June 2, Garuba changed his plea to guilty at the resumed hearing.

    Justice Ipaye instantly convicted him and adjourned till yesterday for sentencing.

    The convict’s counsel, Olanrewaju Ajanaku, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy.

    He said his client, who he described as a first offender, with a wife and two little children, was remorseful and has learnt a lesson.

    But, the prosecutor, Abba Mohammed, urged the court to consider the three-way traffic of justice comprising the interests of the court, the victim and the convict.

    In her judgment, Justice Ipaye said despite showing remorse, she has no sympathy for the convict.

    She held that the convict compromised his position as a banker to steal from a deceased customer whose money would have been used by the family she left behind.

    Justice Ipaye held that the convict allowed his greed to overcome him and risked losing the job that thousands of others were looking for.

    She found the convict guilty on all the 13 counts and sentenced him to three years imprisonment on each count.

    The convict will spend three years in prison as the sentence will run concurrently from the date of his first detention – July 24, last year.

  • Three accused of stealing phones worth N77,500

    The police have accused three men of stealing phones worth N77,500 from two shopkeepers at Small Kuramo area of Lekki, Lagos.

    Timothy Louis, 21, Taiye Jimoh, 18, and Azeez Ishola, 19, were docked yesterday before Mrs J. O. Adepoju of an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.

    They are standing trial on a four-count charge of stealing and malicious damage.

    Prosecuting Sergeant Nicholas Akpene said the defendants committed the offence on May 20 at 4am at Small Kuramo in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State.

    He alleged that the defendants wilfully damaged a wooden cabin valued at N9,000, and five plastic chairs worth N12,000.

    Akpene added that the defendants stole phones valued at N46,500 and N9,000 cash from Lawal Adeniyi and Agbeyegbe Orighonisan.

    The defendants, the prosecutor added, attacked Adeniyi and Orighonisan in their shops before stealing the items.

    The defendants denied the charge.

    Magistrate Adepoju granted them N20,000 bail each.

    The case was adjourned till June.

  • Stealing from the sick?

    Stealing from the sick?

    •Health officials must account for stolen donor funds 

    There are certainly no sacred areas and there seems to be few good men left when it comes to managing public funds in Nigeria today. This is the conclusion to be drawn when news broke last week that Nigeria’s officials are finagling with millions of dollars of foreign donor funds meant for combating live-threatening and indeed, terminal diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

    Global Funds, the international health grants organisation, last week released an audit report of its funds disbursements to Nigeria’s agencies for the period 2010 to 2014.

    The audit focused mainly on the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) and the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), both agencies under the Federal Ministry of Health.

    The allegations against them are quite damning if they are proved to be true. They include multi-million dollars payout to suppliers without proof of delivery as well as the inability to account for a whopping $3.7 million in the purchase of anti-retroviral drugs.

    The report also indicts both NACA and NMEP of financial recklessness, including non-retirement of expenditure and cases of forged or missing vital financial reporting documents. Apart from the suspicion that a chunk of grants are being snitched, the international agency also frowned at the overall poor quality of health services, disruption of programmes, low impact and shortfalls on set targets.

    This dismal report card has prompted Global Funds to suspend all disbursements to both NACA and NMEP. It also petitioned the Federal Government.

    It is quite salutary that government may have responded quite promptly as the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is reported to have stepped in and some officials of the Federal Ministry of Health were last week hauled in for questioning.

    Nigeria’s health budget had always fallen far short of the recommended level of the World Health Organisation (WHO). However, various targeted intervention funds from donor agencies like Global Funds have come handy in many critical and endemic health challenges like HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and the polio virus, to name a few.

    For instance, Nigeria reportedly enjoys the largest intervention funding from Global Funds said to total about $1.1 billion for combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. And about 750,000 Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS are said to benefit from Global Funds’ anti-retroviral drugs programmes.

    While we commend the Federal Government for what seems like its prompt move to institute an investigation on the outcomes of Global Funds’ audit report, that it took a foreign donor to unearth such numbing discrepancies in the finances of crucial agencies of Nigeria’s health ministry is equally damning. It is a clear indication of the poor quality of governance, especially as concerns financial control measures.

    How many other agencies in the country are operating without basic checks and control on their finances? Again, this calls to question, the capacity of the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAGF) and perhaps, the need to set up special audit units to track international donor funds.

    While we condemn in totality, the action of the reportedly thieving officials of the aforementioned agencies, it must also be noted that people everywhere are susceptible to be corrupt where the environment is conducive for corruption to thrive.

    There must be limits to graft and systemic corruption. It is a sign of a decayed moral essence and a total lack of national conscience that foreign grants could be so recklessly purloined as reported.

    Anti-retroviral drugs for instance, are sorely inadequate in Nigeria, with hundreds of thousands unable to have access to them. It is therefore most unconscionable that government officials would railroad a programme from abroad to assuage the sufferings of their compatriots.

    While the Federal Government must put the necessary financial checks in place, it must investigate thoroughly and with promptitude too, in order to bring the culprits, if any, to book. It must be this type of graft that has recently been described as fantastic.