Community leader in Imo bags 7 years for stealing dog

Posted by admin Headlines, Imo, State News Thursday, September 29th, 2011

It was a pay back time for a community leader in Umuihi in Ihitte/Uboma Local Government Area of Imo State as he was sentenced to seven years imprisonment, for stealing a dog, belonging to one of his friends.

Stephen Ugwunali, who is the President General of Umuihi Town Union, was handed down seven-year jail term by an Imo State Magistrate Court, sitting in Etiti, for fraudulently stealing a Moroccan Durban hybrid dog, entrusted to his care by his friend and a Lagos-based legal practitioner and rights activist, Theo Nwaigbo.
The trial magistrate, Chief Magistrate E.O. Ibeawuchi, found Ugwunali guilty as charged at the conclusion of the trial, which lasted for over a year.

The accused, who was charged with the offence of stealing under section 383 of the Criminal Code, was found culpable for criminally breaching the trust reposed in him when he sold the dog, valued at N150,000, for a paltry N4,600, to a dog butcher in the area, Nzeribe Enwerem, without the consent of the owner. The convict, who committed the act with brazen impunity, had been collecting N5,000 per month, from the complainant for the maintenance of the dog.

Indeed, it was ironic twist of fate as the dog was taken to the convict for safe-keeping to prevent it from suffering the same fate that befell its counterpart, which was killed by the owner’s domestic servant, while he was away in Lagos. The complainant purchased the two hybrid dogs for $1,000 dollars each during his trip to Casablanca, Morocco, sometime in 2008, when he went on official engagement with his client to the North African country.
Nwaigbo had emotional attachment to the dog, which always followed him about in the village and the neighbouring communities as he cruised about in his power bike anytime he visited home.

He was shocked and devastated when the news of the fate, which befell his cherished pet was broken to him by his brother, Nze Nwaigbo, who had earlier warned him on phone that the convict was making attempts to sell the dog to the butcher. Following the news of the demise of his dog, he called Ugwunali on phone and confronted him with the allegation. He confirmed the story but lied to cover his act, claiming that he sold the dog to the butcher when it took ill.

As a result, the complainant traveled home to conduct investigation on the matter. To his dismay, he discovered that the dog was hale and hearty when his friend invited the butcher to come and value it. He further confirmed that Ugwuanali’s son actually lured the dog to the butcher’s shop for delivery after the sum of N4,600 had been paid to the convict. In all, four witnesses, including the complainant’s brother and one Kelechi Okafor, who confirmed that dog meat was very sweet, testified for the prosecution.

To escape justice, Ugwunali told a cocktail of lies to the court, claiming that the dog was given to him to keep so that he and the complainant could eat it during Mbanuso Festival, which prompted him to have it castrated. He told the court that he actually sold it to the butcher when it took ill. His wife, Chigozie, also testified for him to save him from the hammer of justice. However, the trial magistrate was able to separate the wheat from the chaff, as he clinically examined the evidence adduced by the parties.

Contrary to the defence put up by the convict, the court held: “The accused stated in exhibit ‘C’ (his statement to the police), which he recorded by himself, that PWI brought the dog to him for safe-keeping.”
The court, in its analysis of the case further held: “The prosecution gave consistent evidence that the dog was entrusted to the care and custody of the accused by the PWI. The accused also stated that fact in exhibit ‘C’.”
“It is also clear in evidence, both by the prosecution and the defence, that the accused took the dog that was entrusted to his care and custody and sold it to one Nzeribe Enwerem without the consent of the PWI.”
In addition, the court picked holes in the defendant’s evidence that the cheque of N5,000, given to him by Nwaigbo, was not for the up-keep of the dog, but in respect of a land transaction.

“However, exhibit ‘E’ (document in respect of land transaction) was made on 21/2/09 and the cheque was issued on 15/7/09 and not on 22/2/09, which is about five months after that sale of land transaction. This contradiction obviously showed that the cheque was not for sale of land transaction,” the court held.
Following the overwhelming and incontrovertible evidence against Ugwunali, the court returned a verdict of guilt against him. Before his sentence was pronounced, Ugwunali made a passionate plea to the court, to have mercy on him and be lenient in its sentence.

His plea appeared to have attracted sympathy from the court, as he was given option of N10,000 fine, in lieu of the seven years jail term.

-Sunwp_posts