Man arraigned for stealing motorcycle in church in Lagos

A 37-year-old unem­ployed man, Femi Olayinka, who al­legedly stole a motorcycle at the parking lot of a church, was on Monday dragged before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court.
Olayinka, a resident of Ojurongbe Street, Lanfen­wa in Abeokuta, is being tried for stealing.
According to the pros­ecutor, Insp. Clement Okuoimose, the accused committed the offence on January 1 at Christ Apos­tolic Church, Ayobo, La­gos, during a cross-over service.
He said the accused stole the motorcycle valued at N113,000, property of the complainant, Mr Ogunleye Ilesanmi.
Okuoimose said the complainant was worship­ing God in the cross-over night service when the ac­cused stole the motorcycle.
“The complainant sat on the motorcycle with others outside the church because the auditorium was filled up. As prayer points were raised to usher them into the New Year, the pastor ordered them to stand up to pray.
“The complainant got up from his motorcycle and started praying. By the time the worshipers shout­ed ‘happy new year’ and the complainant turned to greet people behind him, he discovered that his mo­torcycle had missed.
“Efforts made by the complainant to recover his motorcycle were unsuc­cessful as he later reported the case to the police,” he said. - The Authority