Kelvin Ighodalo Jailed 45 years For Stealing a Phone

Kelvin Ighodalo, a 31 years old who was standing trial for stealing a N50,000 Sony Ericsson phone belonging to Governor Rauf Aregbesola,  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 without option of fine 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.

From the foregoing, it appears Kelvin Ighodalo, like most of our politicians is a habitual criminal. 

 It is annoying that he stole a common phone instead of getting connected to government purse where Billions are kept. His criminal mate that stole about N23bn from government was given a month imprisonment with an option of fine. Very simple.

I advice Kelvin, the moment he is out of prison to join politics to avoid this kind of embarrassment