Tolu Aiyegbusi
A Grade 1 Area Court in Karu, Abuja, on Tuesday sentenced one Kabiru Ali, 20, to eight months imprisonment for stealing his employer’s power generating set.
The convict, resident of Karu Village, was arraigned for the offences of criminal breach of trust and theft, which are punishable under section 312 and 289 of the Penal code.
His conviction followed his plea of guilt after the charges were read to him. He, however, pleaded for mercy.
In sentencing him, the Judge, Mr Hassan Ishaq, however, gave an option of N20, 000 as fine.
Ishaq also ordered the convict to pay the sum of N 55, 000 to the complainant as compensation for the stolen generator.
He said that the compensation should be paid through the court for the purpose of record-keeping.
Earlier, the Prosecutor, Mrs Helen Ashasim, had told the court that Mr Abubakar Umar of Karu village reported the matter at Karu Police Station on Aug. 20.
She said that on the said date, the wife of the complainant called him in the evening while he was away from home that their generator was missing from where it was housed.
The prosecutor added that it was discovered during police investigations that the convict, who was employed to safeguard the premises of the complainant, was the one who stole the generator.
She informed the court that the convict confessed to the police that he connived with one Musa, presently at large, to carry out the theft.
Ashasim stated that all efforts to recover the generator, valued at N55, 000, proved abortive.
