An Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court on Friday handed a 12 months jail term to a 22-year-old unemployed man, Innocent Ali, for stealing a woman’s handbag in a church.
Mrs Taiwo Akanni, the Chief Magistrate, who sentenced the accused without any option of fine, said the punishment “will serve as a deterrent to others.”
The accused was first arraigned on July 20, 2015, on a one-count charge of stealing.
The convict, whose address is unknown, pleaded guilty the day he was arraigned and had since then been in custody as his jail term will include the number of days he had been in custody.
The prosecutor, Insp. Clifford Ogu, had told the court that the offence was committed on July 5 at Christ Royal Family International Church, located at 2, Adegbola St., Ikeja.
Ogu said the accused stole a woman’s handbag in the church and ran away.
According to Ogu, “The accused was sitting beside a woman, one Mrs Ekundayo Oyenuga, in the church, and after the service, the woman left her bag to meet with the pastor, but on her return, the bag had disappeared.