Lagos bizwoman, two sales boys arraigned for N20m footwear theft
The Nigeria Police, on Tuesday, arraigned a businesswoman, Rose Elijah, and two sales boys, Obinna Okere and Ikechukwu Ukonu, before the Lagos State High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square for allegedly stealing footwear worth N20m.
The suspects, Elijah, 25; Okere, 34 and Ukonu 32, are facing three counts bordering on conspiracy, stealing, fraud and receiving of stolen goods preferred against them by the police.
The defendants whose residential addresses were not given, were arraigned before Justice Yetunde Adesanya.
The prosecution counsel, Assistant Superintendent of Police Austin Nwabuisi, told the court that the defendants and others still at large committed the alleged offences between January and March 2023.
Nwabuisi told the court that the incident took place on the third floor of New Life Plaza, at Tinubu, Lagos Island.
He claimed that the trio conspired amongst themselves and stole 130 cartons of footwear valued N20m, property of Mr Ikebube Sabinus.
The prosecutor also told the court that the second (Okere) and third (Ukonu) defendants while they were employed by the complaint, Ikebube Sabinus, as sales boys, stole the 130 cartons of assorted types and sizes of footwear.
Nwabuisi told the court that the first defendant, Rose Elijah, and others still at large on or before March 9, 2023, at her address on the third floor, No 13 Gbajumo Plaza, Balogun, knowingly and fraudulently received at intervals 130 cartons of assorted types and sizes of imported footwear removed from the warehouse, a property of Sabinus.
According to the prosecutor, the offences committed contravened Sections 411, 287 (7) and 328 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2015.
However, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
Following their not-guilty pleas, the court granted them bail in the sum of N2m each and two sureties each in like sum.
Justice Adesanya ruled that one of the sureties must be a blood relation, resident in Lagos.
She also ordered that the sureties must show evidence of two years tax payment to the Lagos State Government, evidence of means, and verification to be done by the court staff.
The judge adjourned the case till June 2, 2025, for the commencement of trial.
