Grade ‘A’ Customary Court sitting at Mapo in Ibadan on Thursday sentenced one Musa Isa, 25, to six months in the correctional centre for receiving stolen cables belonging to the University College Hospital, UCH.
Delivering judgment, the court’s President, Mrs. S.M. Akintayo, convicted and sentenced Isa after he pleaded guilty to a one-count charge of receiving stolen goods instituted against him by the police prosecution.
In a summary trial, Akintayo stated that there was no need for further evidence since the convict willingly pleaded guilty to the charge.
“Therefore, Isa is sentenced to six months imprisonment or an option of six months community service,” Akintayo held.
The prosecutor, Inspector Ayodele Ayeni, had earlier told the court that the convict committed the crime on March 3, at about 2.00 p.m., on the premises of University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State.
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Revealing the facts, Ayeni stated that passersby and UCH workers who saw Isa and one other, Farook Owolabi, apprehended and questioned them on how they came about the cables, but they could not give a satisfactory account.
The prosecutor added that UCH Chief Security Officer later investigated the matter and transferred it to Iyemetu police station for further investigation.
According to Ayeni, the convict confessed to receiving the cables, whose total cost was not specified by Owolabi, who stole the cables from the CPS department of UCH.
Isa said that he had already paid N4000 cash to Owolabi.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Owolabi, the first defendant, had pleaded not guilty to the charge of stealing levelled against him.
The court adjourned Owolabi’s trial until April 27.
The court noted that the sentence was meant to serve as a deterrent to others who might be tempted to engage in the purchase or handling of stolen property. Mrs. Akintayo warned that receiving stolen goods fuels criminal activities and undermines public institutions.
She emphasised that critical infrastructure such as hospital facilities must be protected at all costs, stressing that vandalism and theft within public institutions could disrupt essential services and endanger lives.
The President of the court further advised members of the public to be vigilant and to report suspicious activities to law enforcement agencies, reiterating that anyone found complicit in criminal dealings, whether directly or indirectly, would face the full weight of the law.
NAN
