Samuel Meyiwa, 26, was arraigned at a Yaba Magistrate’s Court on Thursday for allegedly using his employer’s funds for gambling.
The defendant was arraigned before Magistrate A.O Salawu on a charge of stealing, which the Lagos State Police Command has preferred against him.
It was gathered in court that Meyiwa was employed in March as a driver who sells sachet water with a truck for a company in Bariga but has been using part of the money from his daily sales to gamble without the knowledge of his employer.
In October, Meyiwa is said to have sold N88,000 worth of sachet water without returning the money, but later informed his boss about the outstanding debt, which became a habit.
In November, Meyiwa drove off as usual with bags of sachet water worth N300,000, supplied all the goods but went to bet with the money and, when he lost, he ran off. All means to reach him proved abortive until he was sighted in another company where he had started working and was arrested by the police.
Meyiwa is said to have allegedly committed the offence between March and November 2023 at Okusanya Street, off Adebayo Road, Bariga, an offence that “contravened Section 287 (7) of the Criminal Law”.
The charge read, “That you Samuel Meyiwa, sometime March to November 2023 at Bariga in the Yaba Magisterial District did steal the sum of three hundred thousand naira cash from Freedom Pure Water Company situated at No 10 NG Okusanya street off Adebayo Road, Bariga, where you were employed as a driver and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 287 (7) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria 2015.”
Meyiwa pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge preferred against him.
Following his plea, the magistrate granted him bail in the sum of N100,000 with two responsible sureties in like sum and then adjourned the case till January 25, 2024, for trial.