Court Imprison JAMB employee over laptop theft

A contract employee of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board was sentenced to six months in prison by Magistrate Court 2 in Kado-Life Camp, Abuja, for stealing an HP laptop from the Board, according to JAMB’s weekly bulletin, which was released on Monday.

According to the bulletin, Emmanuel Odey was accused of committing the crime on July 13, 2023, at the Board’s FCT Zonal Office in Abuja, in violation of Sections 287 and 289 of the Penal Code, and is punishable under those same sections. The bulletin was approved by the Board’s spokesman, Fabian Benjamin.

The bulletin read, “Odey, a cleaner employed for cleaning services at the Board’s FCT Zonal Office, broke down in tears and admitted before the court to stealing the HP laptop worth N350,000 to pay his house rent that has expired.

“While pleading for leniency, he confessed that he had acted alone but blamed the devil for his act and begged to be given a second chance.”

The bulletin further stated after an intense cross-examination, the Senior Magistrate, Mr. Egbe Joshua, stated that, “the defendant, a first-time offender, had shown remorse and had not wasted the precious time of the court and recognised youthful exuberance as a possible factor in the crime.

“The Senior Magistrate summarily tried and convicted the defendant under Section 112(8) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, and sentenced him to six months imprisonment with an option of a fine of five thousand naira.”

The Board noted that in an earlier attempt to solve the mystery of the missing HP laptop, it assembled a team of investigators under the direction of Superintendent of Police Joy Abuma, whose “painstaking investigation” resulted in the defendant’s arrest and his eventual admission that he had hidden the laptop in his sister’s home.