The outcome of a legal option explored by a victim of the rash of burglary in Egbe, Yagba West Council, has stirred anger on the part of the victim and household following what they termed “light sentence” as contained in the judgment delivered by the Presiding Judge at the Magistrate Court, Odo Egbe on Tuesday.
The victim, a surgeon, who is not based in Nigeria, had reported a case of break-in into his residence during which properties worth over N2.5m were carted away. Consequent upon his arrest and interrogation by the police, the suspect and defendant, one Adebola David, according to police sources, admitted to the allegations and pleaded guilty to some of the allegations leveled against him. Some of the stolen properties were also recovered, put at N1.5M.
Anger however enveloped the entire community as the magistrate only sentenced the suspect to 2 weeks imprisonment without an option of fine. Adebola had been charged with Criminal trespass and house breaking.
“We are not satisfied with the punishment in view of the gravity of the of offense,” counsel to the plaintiff, RS John, stated in his reaction to the judgment. He said his client is exploring further legal options available to him to redress the situation, “especially in view of the fact that a lot of his properties have not been recovered by the police.”
It will be recalled that as the newly posted Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Icheima Boniface, settled down to the serious task of policing Egbe community, the commercial nerve of Yagba West Council, it was obvious his major tasks would be how to curtail the hydra-headed clashes between residents and Fulani herdsmen and the rash of burglary that has seen cases of house breaking reported to the police station almost on a daily basis. As a matter of urgency, penultimate week, in what would be Boniface’s maiden meeting with community leaders, the rampant issue of house breaking dominated the discussions. Worst hit among the victims were shop owners and teachers living in the community whose houses became easy targets following the recent distribution of laptop computers to teachers across the state at subsidized costs.
Several laptops have been reportedly stolen within the last two months. The break-ins, according to victims usually occur on Sundays, at a time worshippers in Egbe, a preponderant Christian community, would have gone to their respective churches of worship. Both police and residents had been left wondering whether the burglars actually resided in Egbe or were outsiders, more so when not a single apprehension had been effected even as break-ins into shops and houses persisted. It was therefore, thought to be cheery news, last weekend, when news of the first arrest filtered in. David Adebola, allegedly dismissed from the Nigerian Police, was caught in the act on Sunday September 15 after after he serially broke into the resident of a surgeon.
Adebola, married with 4 children and who later learned bricklaying had been engaged by the surgeon to work on his house project. Unknown to the surgeon, Adebola had duplicates of keys into his apartments, several months after he completed his work. With the aid of cut duplicates of keys, once the surgeon was out of town, the suspect easily broke into the apartment after jumping over the fence from the back of the house, which is usually deserted on Sundays. He would hide his vehicle, a motorcycle, at a nearby through which he conveyed the goods away from the building after the operation. It was on the occasion of a similar operation that his game came up between his eyes. The suspect was apprehended following a tip by a 14-year-old secondary school pupil who became aware of the regular packing of a motorcycle near his family residence and decided to alert his grandmother.
On that particularly Sunday, the boy and his grandmother decided not to go to church. Their calculations worked out as Adebola soon arrived at the usual time and the same spot. They decided to trace his movement and he was seen opening the entrance of the building from inside the building. As he came out, locking the door behind him, his eyes met their eyes. “He started begging that he was being used by the devil, he pleaded that we should not tell anyone. At that point I knew I was close to danger, because I was there all alone with him; I was lucky he didn’t hit me. I decided to advise him, telling him what he has done is terribly bad that he should try and change. Immediately I left the scene unhurt, I called Dr’s brother and sister to tell them what I saw. Some of the properties reportedly stolen were a power generating set, computers and clothes. Some of the recovered stolen properties were paraded and photographed at the police station at the weekend.
When news of his arrest hit the streets of Egbe, the general consensus was that Adebola must take responsibility for all burglary cases reported in Egbe in recent time. Some said he should help the police in finding answers to most raveled cases of illegal entry to people’s homes in Egbe. But that isn’t likely going to be the case at this instance. Definitely not with the 2-week sentence by the magistrate. So cried out loudly his victims.
