An Abakaliki, Ebonyi State Magistrates’ Court has sentenced a male interior decorator, Akata Chukwuma, to one year imprisonment with hard labour for stealing a motorcycle from a church premises.
The court did not give the convict, who is in his late 30s, any option of fine.
The found the motorcycle being driven by the now convicted interior decorator, who had assisted him in searching the church premises for the bike, when it got missing
The convict, a native of Ntezi community in Ishielu Local Government Area of the state was contracted on the May 12, 2018, to decorate a wedding reception venue inside the St Theresa’s Cathedral premises, Abakaliki, where he sighted and unlocked a CY 80 motorcycle, which he promptly made away with.
The convict admitted to have returned to the reception venue and continued his decoration job after taking the stolen bike belonging to one Mr. Erede Eugene to his house without anyone challenging him because the church car park was closer to the wedding hall and very far from the church building, where the owner, the celebrants and other well-wishers were.
Delivering judgment on the matter, the trial Magistrate, Mrs. Sandra Oyibe, said that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and condemned the incessant cases of stealing even in churches. She advised everybody to be mindful of their actions.
She then sentenced the convict to one year imprisonment with hard labour and without any option of fine.
The complainant, Erede, commended the judiciary in Nigerian for living up to expectations as the last hope of the common man, calling for a reduction of the time spent in the dispensation of justice in Nigeria.
He explained that on May 12 this year, he went to attend a friend’s wedding with his blue colour CY 80 motorcycle with registration number QB 343 BKL valued at two hundred and fifty thousand naira only, but couldn’t find it after the ceremony.
He said he did not border to lock the bike since he had parked it inside the church premises, saying he was however surprised that it could disappear from there.
He said that he found the missing motorcycle at a place called Vanco junction a week after it was stolen from the church premises.
The complainant said he found the motorcycle being driven by the now convicted interior decorator, who had assisted him in searching the church premises for the bike, when it got missing.
According to him, he alerted policemen on surveillance at the junction and the convict was apprehended and handed over to the Ekumenyi Police Division in Abakaliki.
