21st September, 2022
An Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos State has sentenced a banker, Blessing Bassey, to seven years imprisonment for stealing N2.68 million from a bank.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Chief Magistrate F.M. Kayode-Alamu sentenced Bassey following her change of plea from not guilty to guilty.
Bassey, an employee of one of the old generation banks, stole the sum from her employer from April 15 to April 20 at Iddo, Ebute Meta, in contravention of Section 287(9) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
Bassey had pleaded not guilty to a count charge of stealing on arraignment on April 22.
The count granted her bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum, but she was unable to meet her bail condition.
Thus, she was remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre for months.
After several adjournments, she decided to change her plea.
The court consequently reviewed the facts of the case and sentenced her.
The court, however, gave her an option to pay back the sum she stole within a year and serve four years in prison instead of seven years. (NAN)