A Lagos Magistrate’s Court in Ejigbo has sentenced Abubakar Alido and Ishola Olatunji to various jail terms for vandalising transformers belonging to Ikeja Electric Plc.
While Alido was sentenced to a year in jail for vandalising a 500KVA transformer on Michael Aladesuyi Street, Egbeda, under the Omo Osho 11KV Feeder, Olatunji was sentenced to six months for attempting to vandalise a transformer on Karimu Laka Street, Egbeda, under the Orelope 11KV Feeder.Asklegalpalace gathered that Alido was arrested by a security guard while tampering with the transformer cables and handed over to the police.
Upon investigation, the police arraigned Alido before the Magistrate’s Court 1, Ejigbo, on June 14 on an allegation of wilful damage of transformer cables, contrary to Section 339 and punishable under Section 350 of the Lagos State Criminal Law of 2015.
He pleaded guilty when the charges were read to him, and the case was adjourned to July 2 for sentencing.
On the adjourned date, the prosecutor summarised the facts, and Alido admitted them as true.
His statement to the police was tendered and admitted as Exhibit A.
Consequently, the court sentenced him to one year imprisonment, effective from his arraignment date.
The court highlighted the importance of this sentence as a deterrent to other vandals, given the rising incidence of such crimes in the area.
Similarly, Olatunji was caught by members of the Karimu Laka community attempting to vandalise a 500KVA transformer.
The community members handed him over to the police. Following an investigation, the police arraigned Olatunji before the Magistrate’s Court 1, Ejigbo, on March 11 on an allegation of attempted theft of transformer cables, punishable under Section 287 of the Lagos State Criminal Law of 2015.
Olatunji initially pleaded not guilty and was granted bail. He was then remanded at the Kirikiri Correctional Facility pending the perfection of his bail conditions.
However, he later opted to change his plea to guilty. During the hearing, the prosecutor summarised the facts of the case, which Olatunji admitted to.
His statement to the police was also tendered and accepted as Exhibit A. The court sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment, starting from his arraignment date.The spokesperson for Ikeja Electric and Head of its Corporate Communications, Mr Kingsley Okotie, commended the joint efforts of the security and legal teams at Ikeja Electric and other external stakeholders and thanked them for their dedication while ensuring that the cases were pursued to
a logical conclusion.
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