An Akure Magistrate’s Court has sentenced a cleric, Friday Okeneji, to two years imprisonment for stealing chemical substances worth N130,000.
Magistrate Damilola Sekoni, delivering judgment, convicted Okeneji on two counts of breaking and entering and theft.
The magistrate gave the convict an option to pay a fine of N100,000
Sekoni, who enjoined the convict to turn a new leaf, cautioned him to imbibe true Christian attributes of hard work and prayerfulness as exemplified in the New Testament Christians in the Bible.
Earlier, the convict, who pleaded guilty.
He explained that he had no means of livelihood.
The convict said he had to raise N150,000 for his mother’s burial slated for August.
The police said that the convict, a presiding pastor of the Christ Apostolic Church( CAC), Iwaro Oka Akoko in Ondo State, committed the offence on July 2, in Iwaro Oka Akoko.
In related news, the Yobe State Police Command has arrested a couple, Abdullahi Ibrahim and Khadija Ali for allegedly stealing a motorcycle belonging to a Muslim cleric in Fika Local Government Area of Yobe.
This is contained in a statement by DSP Dungus Abdulkarim, the command Spokesman, in Damaturu.
He said Ibrahim, 21, and Ali, 20 on June 4 approached the cleric because they said they wanted to convert to Islam.
”The suspects presented themselves as Jude Emmanuel, a Birom man from Farar-Kasa in Barkin Ladi, Plateau and his wife, posed as Peace Sunday.
“ They were subsequently accepted and converted to Islam and, as such, placed in the custody of the Chief Imam in Fika local government area for teaching and proper guidance.
“ A day later, Abdullahi informed the Imam that he needed ashes from a thunderstrike spot to prepare a concoction for his ailments.
“ The Imam assigned one of his sons to take him to a nearby bush. Having gotten there, the suspect collected some dust.
“ On the third day, he requested to be taken to the spot to collect some dust for his wife. The Imam obliged and asked his son to help them get there with his motorcycle.
“ On the spot, the culprits robbed the Imam’s son of his motorcycle and fled,” Abdulkarim said.
The spokesman said the matter was later reported to the Fika Divisional Police Headquarters, where swift efforts were made to trail the culprits for prosecution.
On July 1, he said, information reached the police division that the couple was sighted in Biu LGA of Borno, about to perpetrate a similar act.
”Fortunately, on July 5 at 1400hrs, detectives from the division reacted and apprehended the suspects.
“ Meanwhile, preliminary investigations revealed that they are indigenes of Yobe,” he said.
Abdulkarim said the suspects have since confessed to committing crimes including robbery and abduction against unsuspecting members of the public.
The spokesman advised residents to always report strangers to the police for proper investigation.
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