Ekiti: Court sentences man to 7 years imprisonment for stealing N64,000 phone

• Dada was said to have robbed one Fakiyesi Tope of his N64,000 phone and N8,000 cash while armed with a knife in 2022.

In Ekiti State, one Omodara Dada will spend the next seven years of his life behind bars for burglary, a court has ruled.

The 26-year-old was convicted and sentenced by an Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti Division. .

Dada was said to have robbed one Fakiyesi Tope of his N64,000 phone and N8,000 cash while armed with a knife in 2022.

According to the charge sheet, the convict committed the crime on February 13, 2022, at Ado Ekiti, within the jurisdiction of the court

He was arraigned before Justice Lekan Ogunmoye on July 19, 2022, on a count charge of armed robbery contrary to Section 312 (2) of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2011.

The victim had in his statement to the police, stated, “I am a hotel manager. On the fateful day, I was sleeping in my hotel room, I woke up suddenly when I heard a sound. I saw the defendant trying to remove my Plasma television, I attempted to shout, but he brought out a knife. He threatened to stab me if I shouted.

“I later discovered that he had packed my phone and a cash sum of N8,000 that I placed on the table. I held him from behind when he wanted to escape, and I called for help. He was overpowered with the assistance of others, apprehended and handed over to the police,” he stated.

To prove his case, the prosecutor, Albert Adeyemi, called three witnesses and tendered statements of the victim and defendant, a knife and a cash sum of N8,000 among others as exhibits.

The defendant, who did not call any witness and spoke in his defence through his counsel, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy.

In his judgement, Justice Ogunmoye said, “The evidence produced at the hearing in support of the greater offence is short of sustaining the charge of armed robbery, but established beyond reasonable doubt, the lesser offence.

“The defendant is convicted for the offence of burglary under Section 323 of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State.

“He is sentenced to seven years imprisonment to start running from the date of his detention at Federal Correctional Facility, Ado-Ekiti,” the judge pronounced