Court remands drycleaner for allegedly stealing N220, 000

A Grade I Area Court in Karu, Abuja, has ordered that a Drycleaner, Abdulmajid Bawa be remanded in correctional centre for allegedly stealing N220, 000 from an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) user.

The police charged Bawa, with theft and giving false information in order to mislead public officers.

The Judge, Mr Umar Mayana, deferred bail for the defendant and adjourned the case until May 3 for mention.

Mayana ordered that the defendant be remanded in Keffi Correctional Centre, pending investigation.

Earlier, the Prosecution Counsel, Mr Olanrewaju Osho told the court that the matter was reported by Mrs Ilyasu Anafa of Abacha Barracks Asokoro, Abuja.

Osho told the court that on Feb. 18 the complainant sent her brother to withdraw some money for her at the ATM located in Mogadishu cantonment, Asokoro where the defendant dishonestly deceived him and collected the ATM card under a disguise to help out and in the process ran away.

The prosecutor said, the defendant on different intervals withdrew N80,000, 70,000, N50,500 and N19,500.

He said that during police investigation, the defendant was traced, arrested, and he confessed to the crime where he told the police that he lived at NAF valley estate, Asokoro.

He said the defendant led the police to the address to recover the ATM and the unspent money that turned out to be an uncompleted building.

Osho said that the police further discovered that the due to the defendants’ criminal attitudes, the Occupants and personnel of the estate had warned the defendant never to be seen around the vicinity.

The prosecutor said that the offence contravened the provisions of sections 287 and 158 (2) of the Penal Code.

The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.