A 36-year-old man, Kazeem Bankole, was on Thursday arraigned before a Badagry Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly stealing 10 bags of rice worth N870,000.
Bankole, with no fixed address, is facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.
He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Inspector Edet Ekpo, informed the court that the defendant committed the offences with some others still at large, on October 5 at about 2.30 pm at Mosafejo in the Aradagun area of Badagry, Lagos.
Ekpo said that the defendant stole 10 bags of rice from a shop belonging to the complainant, Mr Michael Oyediji, adding that the defendant was caught by security guards, who handed him over to the police.
He said the offences contravened sections 411 and 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, adding that Section 287 stipulates three years jail term for stealing, while Section 411 provides two years for conspiracy.
The Chief Magistrate, Mr N.A Layeni, granted the defendant bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum.
Layeni ordered that one of the sureties must be a civil servant on grade level 12 and then adjourned the case until November 14 for mention.