MAN JAILED 45 YEARS FOR STEALING GOV. AREGBESOLA'S N50,000 PHONE

Ighodalo

An Osogbo High Court has sentenced a 31-year-old man, Kevin Ighodalo, to 45 years imprisonment for stealing a N50,000 Sony Ericsson phone belonging to Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

Ighodalo stole the phone from the pocket of Aregbesola on November 27, 2010, when the governor was being inaugurated at Government Technical College, Osogbo. Not that I condone stealing but 45 years for stealing a phone? What then happens to politicians who steal billions of Naira daily from this country? They get pardoned. Justice in this country is a joke!

Justice Oyejide Falola, who heard the case, found Ighodalo guilty on six counts, which included conspiracy, stealing and fraud. He was sentenced to 10-year imprisonment for the first three counts and five years for each of the last three which included impersonation, obtaining property by falsehood and collusion.

Falola, who ruled that Ighodalo deserved the jail term, held that the convict used the phone to obtain N500, 000 from the Owa of Ilesa, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran, while he obtained N200, 000 from Mr Shengen Rahman, an associate of the governor. The jail term will run concurrently, which means Ighodalo will spend the next 10 years behind bars.