Four Jailed For Cash Collection From Passengers In BRT Buses Instead Of Cowry Card Use

Four gets 5-months prison terms for cash collection from passengers in LAMATA-regulated buses.

They were found guilty of collecting unauthorised money from passengers, converting the money for their own use.

Four individuals have been sentenced to jail by a Lagos magistrate court for the unauthorised collection of cash from passengers in LAMATA-regulated buses for their personal use, as against the use of Cowry card.

In a statement, LAMATA said that the convicts, Aiyankhe Samuel, Ejikeme Nkendinma, Ajayi Oluwafemi, and Sakiru Ajani, all pleaded guilty to a three-count charge for unauthorized collection of cash from members of the public.

In his ruling in the case of Aiyankhe Samuel, Chief Magistrate F.J. Adefioye held that there was no justification for “stealing government money meant for the development of all and
sundry.”

The magistrate stated that the accused stole LAMATA’s cash amounting to N16,200, a property of Lagos State Government, and thereby committed an offence under Section 280 (1) & (2) of
the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.

The other three convicts, Ejikeme Nkendinma, Ajayi Oluwafemi and Sakiru Ajani, were also found guilty of demanding and collecting unauthorised money from passengers as levy and converting the money for their own use.

The trial magistrate wondered “why they engaged themselves in the perpetration of the criminal act which affects not only the innocent victims but also the State, being the pride of the source of internally generated income meant for the development of the state.”

The four accused were all sentenced on the three-count charges, according to a statement by LAMATA, with the longest term being five months imprisonment.

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