Sales boy docked for allegedly stealing N250,000 from master

A sales boy, Divine Onovo, who allegedly stole N250,000 from his master, pleaded guilty to the offense on Thursday in an Ogudu Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.
The police had charged Onovo, 38, of Adewale Street, Ikotun, Lagos.
The Prosecution Counsel, Insp Sunday Bassey, told the court that the accused committed the offence on Nov. 22, 2022, at block 450, flat 3, Festac Town, Lagos.
He said the defendant, a sales boy for one Mr Elochukwu Igwe, the complainant, had unusually gone to the shop on a Sunday to steal the sum of N250,000.
“The complainant reported that sometime in February, 2022, his mother brought the defendant to him as a sales boy that will serve him for six years.
“After that, he will settle him with a shop and some money to start his own business.
“On a certain Sunday, the accused went to the complainants’ house and told him he wanted to open the shop but this not the usual practice.
“Mr Igwe gave him the key to open the shop but the accused had an ulterior motive of stealing from his master.
“He went to the shop and removed the said amount of money and ran away back to the east without informing his master,” the prosecutor said.
The offence, he said, contravened the provisions of sections 287 (7)of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 287 (7) provides seven years imprisonment for clerks stealing from their employers.
Magistrate O. A. Daodu adjourned the case until Feb. 3, 2023, for facts and sentencing.