16th January, 2020
A Yaba Magistrates Court in Lagos State on Thursday sentenced a 31-year-old sales representative, Etop Iboro, to two years’ imprisonment for stealing drugs worth N398,000 from his employer, Yaba Psychiatric Hospital.
The Magistrate, Mrs. S.O. Obasa, held that the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. She said that the prosecution was able to prove both counts of breaking-in and stealing through the four witnesses it called and the exhibits it tendered.
Earlier, the police had arraigned Iboro on July 4, 2019, on a two-count charge of a break-in and stealing from an employer. The defendant, Iboro, however, pleaded not guilty to the offences and was granted bail.
The Prosecutor, Sgt. Godwin Oriabure submitted that Iboro broke into the hospital’s pharmacy through a window at 2 a.m., on June 13, 2019, and stole the drugs. He added that when the hospital noticed that the drugs were missing, it conducted a search and the stolen drugs were found in Iboro’s cupboard.
He noted that the offences contravene Sections 309 and 287 (7) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 (Revised).
The magistrate did not give the sales representative an option of fine.
“I hereby pronounce you, Etop Iboro, guilty, and sentence you to two years’ imprisonment on count one and count two,” she held.