An Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, remanded a 61-year-old scrap collector, Rotimi Ariremako, charged with robbery, in Kirikiri Prisons.
The Chief Magistrate, Mr A. A. Fashola, ordered the remand pending advice from Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the state, on the case.
Fashola ruled that a duplicate copy of the case file should be sent to DPP, and adjourned the case until April 22.
Ariremako, whose residential address was not provided, was alleged to have attacked a bus driver and disposed him of the bus laden with goods valued at N15 million.
The Prosecutor, Sgt. Michael Unah, had told the court that the defendant and his gang now at large, attacked the driver of a J5 bus with number plate EPE 476 UX, carrying 169 cartons of assorted items.
He said that the consignment included eight cartons of new shoes, 150 cartons of bitters, three cartons of hair attachment, three cartons of plates and two sacks of men’s boxers, all worth N15 million, property of Mr Paul Ekwu.
He said that after robbing the driver of the bus, the defendant drove it to an unknown destination.
“They also took the driver’s phone which was used in tracking down the suspect,” he said.
The prosecutor said that the defendant committed the offence on Nov. 9, 2018 at about 5.30 p.m. along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
He said that the offences contravened Sections 297(1) and 297(2)(a) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2015 (Revised).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that both Sections stipulate 21 years imprisonment for offenders.
In his defence, Ariremako, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
He, however, said that he picked the phone from the ground without a sim in it, adding that he did not make a report at the police station for fear of being tagged a thief.
(NAN)
Leave a Reply