Emmanuel Nwonu in jail for stealing church offering in Abakaliki
A man identified as Emmanuel Nwonu has on Thursday July 16 been sentenced 12 months in jail by the Ebonyi state Magistrates’ Court sitting in Abakaliki.
Nwonu was convicted for stealing an undisclosed amount of money and phone from a woman in Udunukwe area and the sum of N45,465 from a church in Kpirikpiri Abakaliki, St. Patrick Catholic Church.
Upon arrest, N41,465 was recovered from the convict .
Nwonu, who had been arraigned for stealing in 2017, pleaded guilty to the charges and asked the court to tamper justice with mercy.
He blamed his actions on his poor conditions, narrating how times were hard for him and his visually impaired father since he lost his job as a driver. He also added that he had been sleeping under a flyover since he lost his job.
The Presiding Magistrate, A. C. Nwusulor sentenced Nwonu to 12 months in jail for stealing instead of 7 years so that he can reflect on what he did.
The charges against Emmanuel Nwonu who was arraigned on two counts of burglary and stealing on Thursday July 16, read;
“That you, Emmanuel Nwonu, July 11, 2020, at St. Patrick Catholic Church, Kpirikpiri, Abakaliki, in the Abakaliki Magisterial District, did enter a building used for religious worship and stole the sum of N45,465 belonging to St. Patrick Catholic Church, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 415 of the Criminal Code, Cap. 33, Vol. 1, Laws of Ebonyi State of Nigeria, 2009.
“That you, Emmanuel Nwonu, on the same date and place and in the same aforesaid magisterial district, did wilfully and unlawfully damaged one offering box and it’s padlock valued at N15,000, property of St. Patrick Catholic Church, Kpirikpiri, Abakaliki, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 451 of the Criminal Code, Cap. 33, Vol. 1, Laws of Ebonyi State of Nigeria, 2009.”
