Lagos task force officer jailed for stealing pastor’s phone

The Lagos State Mobile Court sitting in Oshodi has sentenced a paramilitary officer attached to the Lagos State task force to one year imprisonment for stealing a Phantom 6 Techno mobile phone belonging to one Pastor Kingsley of Christ Church, Fadeyi, Lagos.

The convict, 34-year-old Moses Prince, a paramilitary officer deployed from Man-O-War to the agency in October 2016 stole the phone valued at N150,000 during an enforcement operation carried out at No. 22, Ereko Street, Fadeyi, Lagos.

Magistrate Lateef Owolabi sentenced the accused to one year imprisonment without any option of fine after he pleaded guilty to a one count charge leveled against him for stealing during the discharge of a lawful duty with the Lagos State Task Force contrary to Section 258 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State.

Owolabi, who said the judgment was meant to deter other public officers from engaging in criminal activities, however, confirmed that the accused’s statement under caution where he admitted stealing the phone was used as evidence against him.

The suspect, who hails from Ukubia town in Bayelsa State, however, pleaded for leniency and promised never to indulge in such action again. He said: “I stole the phone inside a kitchen of the building where it was kept.”

Prosecutor Counsel, Ajibola Olumide, disclosed that all evidences tendered against the accused were not denied by him during the court proceedings.

However, Yinka Egbeyemi, chairman of the state task force, said the convict stole the phone at a recent enforcement carried out at Idi-Oro area of Mushin where hoodlums clashed recently. He said the convict voluntarily confessed to have stolen the said mobile phone during an interrogation carried out by the agency.

Egbeyemi stated that the agency carried out series of programmes where officers were lectured to shun criminal activities and be upright in the course of discharging their legitimate duties.