Romanus Okoye, Lagos
A Yaba Magistrate’s Court in Lagos State has sentenced a 31-year-old sales representative, Etop Iboro, to two years imprisonment for stealing drugs worth N398,000 from his employer, Yaba Psychiatric Hospital.
The Magistrate, Mrs S O Obasa, held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and did not give the sales representative an option of fine.
She said that the prosecution was able to prove both counts of breaking-in and stealing through the four witnesses, it called and the exhibits it tendered.
“I hereby pronounce you, Etop Iboro, guilty, and sentence you to two years imprisonment on count one and count two,” she held.
The police arraigned Iboro on July 4, 2019, on a two-count charge of break-in and stealing from his employer. He had pleaded not guilty to the offences and was granted bail. His trial lasted for six months.
The prosecutor, Sergeant Godwin Oriabure, had submitted that Iboro broke into the hospital’s pharmacy through a window at 2 a.m., on June 13, 2019, and stole the drugs and when the hospital noticed that the drugs were missing, it conducted a search and the stolen drugs were found in Iboro’s cupboard.
He noted that the offences contravene Sections 309 and 287 (7) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 (Revised).