The police yesterday arraigned two labourers, Izuchukwu Okeke, 22, and Ndubisi Okereke, 24, in a Wuse Zone 2 Senior Magistrates’ court, Abuja, for alleged shop breaking and stealing items worth N103, 000.
The accused persons are standing trial for the offences of joint act, shop breaking and theft.
The police prosecutor, Cpl Sanni Yusuf, said that on May 19, Comfort Daniel, and Charity James, of Mabushi District, Abuja, reported the two accused at the Mabushi Police Station.
Yusuf said that the complainants reported that on May 15, the accused persons connived and broke into their shops and stole some of their items.
The prosecutor said that some of the stolen items included two radio speakers, one amplifier, one generator, two crates of Maltina soft drink, eight pieces of Power Horse drinks, and five packs of Five Alive fruit juice.
“Other items they stole included three crates of Gulder, three crates of Star, four crates of Heineken, and two cartoons of Harp beer,’’ Yusuf said.
He told the court that the stolen items were all valued at N103,000.
Yusuf informed the court that during police investigation, some of the items were, however, recovered from the accused persons.
He said the offences contravened sections 79, 347, and 287 of the Penal code respectively.
If found guilty as charged, the accused persons could face a jail term which might extend to five years, with fine both.
The accused persons pleaded not guilty to the offences.
However, Okeke told the court that they stole only a few items and were not guilty of all the items listed in the charge.
Okeke said that the patrol team that caught them saw the actual things they stole as it was recovered from them.
In her ruling, the Senior Magistrate, Mrs. Chinyere Nwacheonwu, granted the accused persons bail for N50,000 with a reliable surety each.
Nwacheonwu said that the prosecutor should come with his witnesses to the court, to give the actual account of the items recovered from the accused.
The magistrate adjourned the case until June 4 for hearing. (NAN)
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