An Abeokuta Magistrates’ Court in Ogun State has sentenced a 22-year-old man, Atofeyinti Gafar, to two years’ imprisonment for stealing valuables worth about N1.7m from a church and a mosque.
Gafar, who has no fixed address, was convicted on Tuesday after pleading guilty to a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, burglary and stealing.
The prosecutor, Inspector Opeyemi Lawal, told the court that the convict committed the offences at different times in May and on October 18 at the Itoko area of Abeokuta.
Lawal said Gafar broke into the premises of C&S Orisun Ibukun Goshen Church with the intention of stealing, carting away an amplifier engine valued at N350,000, a 6-by-6 foam worth N250,000 and two speakers valued at N200,000.
Other items allegedly stolen from the church included a cooking stove and utensils worth N170,000, two bells valued at N40,000 and electrical wires worth N50,000.
The prosecutor further said that on October 18, the defendant burgled the premises of Allahu Rahamon Islamic Society, where he allegedly stole an amplifier engine valued at N450,000 and four speakers worth N250,000.
He said the total value of the stolen property from the two religious centres was estimated at N1.7m, adding that the defendant was apprehended by local vigilante officers before being handed over to the police.
The prosecutor said the offences contravened Sections 390(9) and 412 of the Criminal Code, Volume 1, Laws of Ogun State, 2006.
In her judgment, the Magistrate, O.T. Odubanjo, convicted Gafar following his guilty plea and sentenced him to two years’ imprisonment for conspiracy and stealing, without an option of fine. She, however, ordered that the sentences run concurrently.
