Two guards are being made to pay for their crime after they were said to have stolen diesel from a DSTV office.
Men of the Nigeria Police Force
The two guards, identifiied as Oke Oreyede, 36, and Wilson Emmanuel, 22, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a charge of stealing diesel from a firm, DSTV, in Lekki, Lagos.
Oreyede and Emmanuel were charged by the police before Mrs. G. O. Oghie of an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court, Lagos alongside three of their colleagues.
The other defendants are Adia Godbless, 30, Shola Adeleke, 32 and a woman, Tessy Bitrus, 30.
They were all arraigned on five counts of conspiracy, receiving stolen property and stealing.
Prosecuting Sergeant Okete Ejime alleged that the defendants committed the offences on July 19, at about 1:30 pm, at Oniru Estate, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.
He said they stole 100 litres of diesel valued at N250, 000, property of a company, DSTV.
The defendants, he added, were security guards of the company but failed to prevent the item from being stolen.
“One of the defendants, Bitrus, received the 100 litres of diesel with the knowledge that it was stolen,” Ejime said.
The court heard that the offences contravened Sections 285, 326, 408 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
Godbless, Adeleke, and Bitrus, who denied the charge, were granted N200, 000 bail each with two sureties each in the like sum.
The sureties must show evidence of two years’ tax payment.
Magistrate Oghie remanded Emmanuel and Oreyede in prison custody and adjourned the case till August 11, for mention and review of facts.