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A 31-year-old man allegedly eat noodles worth N1000 at a food vendor’s stand in Lagos and attempted to flee without paying.
According to a Daily Trust report, the owner of the restaurant at the College of Medicine, Idi-Araba, Lagos, Olumbo Labake, was said to have raised an alarm and the suspect was arrested. On interrogation, the suspect, Temitope Adeyemi, was said to have admitted he didn’t have any money on him, but agreed to deposit his mobile telephone.
A witness said that the arrangement did not go down well with the owner, who promptly invited the police.
Investigation conducted by the police revealed that the suspect had allegedly stolen the phone before the incident occurred.
It was learnt that Adeyemi planned to sell the phone and use the proceeds to buy food but couldn’t.
A police source at the Isolo Division, Lagos, where the matter was reported said that the suspect did not inform the food vendor that he had no money on him before ordering for food.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Edgal Imohimi, reportedly directed that the suspect be charged to court and the matter was on Tuesday brought before an Isolo chief magistrate’s court.
Adeyemi was charged with stealing prepared noodles, and being in possession of a phone suspected to be stolen.
However, when there was doubt on the first charge, the prosecutor, Mr Oje Uagbale, asked the court to strike out the first count of eating Indomie noodles without paying, while the second count of being in possession of suspected stolen phone was sustained.
The suspect, however, pleaded not guilty.
The presiding magistrate, Mr O.A. Ogbe, granted him bail in the sum of N100,000 with one surety in like sum. Adeyemi was then remanded in prison custody pending when he will perfect his bail condition and the matter was adjourned till October 9, 2017.