30-year-old surety charged with failing to produce suspected thief

The Lagos State Police Command has charged 30-year-old Adebiyi Kayode, who stood as a surety, with allegedly perverting justice by failing to produce the defendant he stood for.

PUNCH Metro gathered that Adebiyi stood as a surety for Sheriff Aminat, a storekeeper at Betty Distribution Company, who was charged with conspiracy to steal and allegedly stealing goods worth over N4m.

A report was made on February 6, 2024, by the Head of Human Resources at Betty Distribution Company regarding the alleged theft, which was discovered during the yearly audit. The audit revealed that goods worth over N4m were missing, and the money was not remitted to the company’s account.

Aminat was released on bail after meeting the bail terms but soon disappeared, and all efforts to contact her proved unsuccessful, leading to the arrest of her surety.

According to the witness in court, Inspector Adedigba Adeola, during the investigation, the police needed to question the defendant, but all efforts to reach her proved unsuccessful. She said, “While the investigation was ongoing, we were unable to contact the defendant. We tried every means possible, so the surety was called to give an account, but he did not show up.”

The surety was arrested and questioned but could not produce the defendant. Inspector Adeola stated, “We showed him the bail bond and asked if he was the one who signed it and if he understood the implications if he couldn’t produce the defendant. We asked him if he was related to the defendant, and he told us he was a colleague of the absconded defendant. He claimed he didn’t know any family member and had tried to locate the defendant but couldn’t find her.”

Adeola further stated that they arrested him because the defendant stole goods worth over N4m, and he seemed to be perverting justice by failing to produce the defendant.

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