Pastor Friday Okeneji, 29, was sentenced to two years in prison by an Akure Magistrate’s Court for breaking into a shop and stealing N130,000 in hazardous substances.
Okeneji, the pastor of a church in Iwaro Oka Akoko, Ondo State, is accused of committing crimes on July 2, 2023, at Iwaro Oka Akoko.
The defendant, who pled guilty to the two-count accusation read to him, admitted to committing the crime in order to survive.
He told the court that he was forced to conduct the crime since he had no other means of support.
According to him, “I had to pay N150,000 for my mother’s burial coming up in August and I have no means of getting the money.”
In her judgment, trial magistrate Damilola Sekoni stated that Okeneji was convicted on a two-count charge and that the prison term will run concurrently with the option of a N100,000 fine.
She urged the inmate to turn over a fresh leaf and live a moral life from now on.
