A security guard, Mohammed Yunusa, told a magistrate court in Kubwa, Abuja, that he stole a bag of rice and maize because he didn’t have any food to eat.
The 21-year-old, who lives in the Dawaki area of Abuja, pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy and theft.
“My boss, retired Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) Ali Janja, employed me as a security guard because the former guard, Aminu Haruna, travelled in December. My boss travelled to Kaduna and left me with his children at home. The children do not give me food to eat. I stole one bag of rice and one bag of maize for my food and not for selling,” he said.
Yunusa added that he spent 19 days in the police station and prayed to the court to temper justice with mercy, saying he was sorry.
Earlier, the prosecution counsel, John Okpa, told the court that he was not making an application for compensation for the stolen items because they had been recovered from Yunusa.
Magistrate Oyepeju Mustapha sentenced Yunusa to two months of community service within the court premises and ordered him to provide a guarantor.
Mustapha stated that without a guarantor, Yunusa would have to serve a one-month prison term.
The prosecution had said that one Jibrin Dauda, a police officer attached to Yunusa’s boss, reported the matter at the Divisional Headquarters, Dawaki, Abuja, on Jan. 12.
He said that Yunusa and Haruna conspired and stole one bag of maize and one bag of rice from their boss’ store worth N500,000.
The offence, he said, contravened the provisions of sections 97 and 288 of the Penal Code.
