A middle-aged man Edwin Otom and his daughter Hope Odey, were on Friday remanded at Agodi Custodial Center by an Ibadan Magistrate Court sitting at Iwo Road for stealing.
The remand order followed the three counts charge preferred against them by the Oyo State Commissioner of Police.
According to the Police Prosecutor, Mr. Sunday Ogunremi, the Suspects were alleged to have stolen up-to four hundred thousand belonging to one Mrs. Oritoke Ilesanmi.
He told the court that the daughter, the second defendant Hope Odeh was employed by the complainant in January 2019 and had been living with her since then.
He said the main duty of the second suspect was to stay at the complainant’s shop at Bola International Market, New Gbagi Ibadan and to sell clothes, collect money and deliver the money to her Boss.
According to him, on February 17, the complainant discovered that Hope was holding a phone. She questioned her to know how she got the phone and seized the phone, knowing that she could not buy anything except what the complainant bought for her, and this prompted her suspicion.
He explained that after seizing the phone, her father Edwin Otom called the complainant, saying he was the one that gave her daughter twenty five thousand Naira to buy the phone, but while questioning the daughter, she said a different thing.
One day, the complainant Mrs. Ileasanmi went to the room of the second defendant, Hope, and discovered the sum forty-nine thousand naira. When the complainant asked Hope how much she had, Hope said she had nothing on her but later confessed that the money was just a new transaction she made from her Boss’ business.
When the case was reported at the Gbagi Police Station, an officer, Fatai Oyelami was assigned to investigate the case. During the investigation, Fatai discovered a note in the room of the second defendant where she listed the amount she had allegedly stolen which was to the tune of four hundred and twenty eight thousand Naira.
In the note she stated various amount of money she had allegedly stolen, and when the recent forty nine thousand naira was deducted from the money the balance was three hundred and seventy nine naira. The Prosecutor said the money had been released to the owner, who is the complainant in the case.
When the Magistrate asked the defendants, who could not afford to get a lawyer to confirm all the allegations, especially the confessional statement purportedly written at the police station, the first defendant said police only wrote what they liked as he was not allowed to talk at the police station.
He denied collecting three hundred and seventy nine Naira from his daughter, saying he only collected forty five thousand Naira from his daughter.
Hope who first confessed to stealing three hundred and fifty thousand naira told the court that she gave her father forty five thousand and one of her uncles sixty thousand naira.
When the Magistrate asked her about the remaining money, Hope said she only stole forty five thousand, Sixty thousand Maura, and another forty thousand Maura..
When the court asked the Investigative Police Officer why Odey was not arrested, the IPO said when he wanted to arrest him, he met him on the road holding a very sharp cutlass.
The trial Magistrate Mr. Taiwo Oladiran adjourned the case to March 3 and ordered that the suspects be kept at Agodi Custodial Center.
Radio Nigeria reports that the Magistrate also asked the Prosecutor to talk to complainant to see if the case could be settled amicably, considering the fact that suspects might not be able to refund the stolen money.
Sunday Ogunyemi
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