Three bolt with employer’s N9.8m

Two men and a woman have been charged before a Yaba Chief Magistrate Court in Lagos over alleged theft of their employer’s property worth N9.5 million.

The men — Ore-Ofe Brama, 42; Oyakhilomhen Qaikira, 28; and Oluwabunmi Vivian, whose residential addresses were not stated, are standing trial on a six-count charge bordering on conspiracy, stealing and fraud.

The prosecutor, Roman Unuigbe, told the court that the accused and others still at large committed the offences between January and September, 2016 at 17A, Ajao Road off Adeniji Jones Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos.

He alleged that the first and second defendants who worked with House Affairs Nigeria Ltd. stole paint worth N9.5 million from their employer.

He said the men, altered, and falsified documents to conceal the number of paints they stole from the beginning of the year till September.

He explained that the third defendant, a mother to one of those still at large, was apprehended as an accessory to conspiracy when it was discovered that she made charms to assist her son escape.

Unuigbe alleged that the woman did not only make charms for her son, but assisted thieves with the intention of delaying their detention and conviction of the offences committed.

The offences, he said, contravened Sections 97, 133(a), 285 (7), 335, 409, and 413 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria 2011.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The magistrate, P.A Ojo, admitted the accused to a bail of N1 million each and two responsible sureties in like sum.

Ojo ordered that each of the sureties must deposit N500,000 at the chief registrar’s account and adjourned the case till December7, for substantive trial.