Two docked for allegedly robbing passenger

Two men, Gabriel Samuel and Godswill Chigozie, were on Monday arraigned at a Karu Grade I Area Court, Abuja, for allegedly assaulting and stealing from a passenger.

The police charged Samuel, 28, and Chigozie, 25, all of Aso C, Mararaba, Nasarawa State, with assault or criminal force in an attempt to commit theft.

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The prosecutor, Mr Edwin Ochayi, told the court that the complainant, Felicia Michael of Nasarawa State, boarded a cab from Maitama junction to Abacha road alongside the defendants.

While the vehicle was moving, they started pushing her in an attempt to rob her of her property, and she requested to alight from the car, which the driver declined.

In the process, Ochayi said, when they got to AA Rano filling station, the first defendant, Samuel, removed her glasses worth N15,000 and smashed it on the ground, and they also collected her bag containing Stanbic ATM card, Samsung 5 plus phone valued at N35,000, one small Nokia phone, and a cash sum of N1,200.

During police investigation, the defendants confessed to the crime and one small Nokia phone was recovered alongside cash of N1,200 and the ATM card but they all could not give a satisfactory account of themselves and the Samsung 5 plus phone.

The prosecutor said the offences contravened the Penal Code.

The Judge, Umar Mayana, admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties each in like sum.

He said that the sureties must live within the court’s jurisdiction, and court officers would verify their addresses, while sureties must be chairman and secretary of where they belong.

Mayana also ordered that they deposit the sum of N50,000 as part of their bail bond to the court registry.

The judge adjourned the case until July 17 for further hearing.