The police have brought a 66-year-old
man, Sule Abdullahi, before a Tinubu Magistrate’s Court on Lagos Island
for failing to produce his son, Rahman Abdullahi, who allegedly stole a
sum of N825,000.
Rahman was said to have fled to the
Republic of Benin, where he hails from, after stealing the sum which
belongs to his boss, who deals in planks in the Jakande, Lekki area of
Lagos.learnt that the boss, Waheed Popoola, reported the theft to the police at the Jakande division, who arrested the father.
It was gathered that Sule, who sells
bedspread, was able to raise N300,000 which he paid to his son’s boss
through the police. He reportedly wrote an undertaking to produce the
boy or pay the remaining N525,000.
Popoola told the police that he had kept
the money inside a drawer in his shop on April 15, but discovered it
was missing around 11am, when Rahman disappeared from the shop and
failed to show up since then.
He said, “Rahman had been working with me for three years. He helped me to load planks. On that day, I borrowed the money from our association and kept it inside my office. Rahman stole it and ran away. I reported to the police and they helped me recover N300,000 from his father. I learnt Rahman sent it from Republic of Benin to his father.”
PUNCH Metro learnt that Popoola
petitioned the Area J Police Command in Ajah when Sule could not pay
the balance or produce his son, and the man was re-arrested.
Sule, who said he indeed wrote the
undertaking at the police station, said he had urged Rahman’s mother,
who lives in the Republic of Benin, to persuade their son to come to
Nigeria for the case.
“His mother said he talked to him, but
he refused. I promised the police to pay the remaining money, but I
don’t have it yet. He was not living with me while he was working with
the man (Popoola),” he added.
The police accused Sule of aiding the
escape of his son and was arraigned in the magistrate’s court on two
counts bordering on the offence by ASP I. Okeke, a prosecutor.
The charges read, “That you, Sule
Abdullahi, on April 15, 2016 at about 11am, at Jakande First Gate,
Lekki, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did aid the escape of
one Rahman Abdullahi, who was involved in a case of stealing a sum of
N825,000, property of one Waheed Popoola.
“That you, on the same date, time and
place, in the aforementioned magisterial district, did refuse to
disclose the whereabouts of one Rahman Abdullahi, allegedly involved in a
case of stealing N825,000, after recovering N300,000 cash from you,
thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 413 of the
Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.”
The counsel, B.M. Ali, told the court
that the information on the charge sheet was questionable and applied
for the defendant’s bail on most liberal terms.
“The person accused of stealing is an
adult; so why arresting the man (the defendant) for an offence committed
by another adult? The charge is framed to prejudice the mind of the
court; but for now, we don’t want to go into the substance of the charge
sheet,” he added.
The prosecutor said he did not oppose to
the bail, adding “that all efforts to locate Rahman had failed as he
had travelled out of the country.”
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