Lafia city mall.
By Shonaye Prince, Lafia
The Upper Area Court situated at Kwandere, in Lafia Local Government Area of Nasarawa state has remanded two university students for shoplifting some items from the Lafia City Mall on several occasions.
The Court who narrated the nature of the crime on Tuesday to the hearing of the people in court in English Language said according to Police First Investigation Report that at about 2030 hrs, Edward Ameh and Emmanuel Onu, male, both 29 years of age, living at millionaires quarters, Lafia, had pretended to buy some items in the Lafia shopping mall and stole some.
‘You conspired and picked items from the shop, paid for some of the items and did not pay others.
‘On the 20 03-2029 at about 1201 hours, you conspired again to pay for some items and did not pay for others.
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‘On 20 02 2022 again entered the same Lafia city mall under pretence to buy items, paid for some of the items and hide others without paying.
‘Again on 25 02 2022 at about 1745 hrs, you went and picked some items in pretense, paid some and did not pay others.
It was disclosed that nemesis caught-up with them when the company’s cooperatives were going or checking the footage of the CCTV camera, it was in the process they found out that both of them had stole some of the items valued thirty thousand four hundred and ten naira (N30,410.00).
The police told the court after their investigations, that the two suspects both confessed to be true some of the items recorded by the CCTV camera.
The police prosecutor had plead with the court to invoke section 97 and 287 of the penal code of the Northern Nigeria in 1963 as suggested because both Edward Ameh ‘and Emmanuel Onu have committed offences contrary to sections.
Responding immediately after the FIR was read to the hearing of the court is the chief Judge, Magistrate Saifullah Bala Abdullahi who asked the suspects if they understood the allegations levelled on them which they said yes and confirmed to the court that they are guilty of the crime as charged.
The magistrate judge preserve the judgement, and sentence for Friday, 4th March 2022, but directed that the both of them be remanded at the Lafia correctional Centre until the stipulated date.
The Dune tried to speak with the defendant’s council Barrister Joe, but complaint that he is not in the right state of mind to speak refer us to his principal who was not in court.
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The Lafia City Mall lawyer, Barrister Abdullahi Ubandoma Abdullahi, who said they were in court to observe and to hear the nature of the crime so as to know how to come in as they are aware and worried about the ceaseless theft occurring in the mall and wish justice to be done to serve as a deterrent.
‘We are council of the Lafia city mall, we are here to observe the case of theft according to the police FIR the suspects have admitted to the crime and the judge had scheduled his judgement and sentence for Friday 4th march ,’ he added.
He reacted that it is left for the defendants’ lawyer to know the modalities to employ but for them he said the judgement is satisfactory.
