A man has been jailed for 45 years for stealing the phone of Osun State Governor. I have two questions on this matter. It seems stealing a phone from a prominent man has more punishment in the Nigerian constitution? Secondly...how on earth did he even steal the phone?

31-year-old Kelvin Ighodalo stole a N50,000 Sony Ericsson phone belonging to Governor Rauf Aregbesola, and now he has been sentenced to 45-year imprisonment by an Osogbo High Court.

Ighodalo stole the phone from the pocket of Aregbesola on November 27, 2010, when the governor was being inaugurated at Government Technical College, Osogbo. 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, which Falola pronounced will run concurrently, means that Ighodalo will spend the next 10 years behind bars.

Assistant principal state counsel, Mr Biodun Badiora, told the court that the convict had served six-year imprisonment in Ikoyi prison custody in connection with a murder case in 2005.

Counsel to Ighodalo, Mr. Ameachi Ngwu, prayed the court to commit him to community service, stressing that the convict should not be incarcerated but rather be placed where people could see him as a convict.

Culled From Punch

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