Employee penalized for gambling with company funds in Lagos

The 26-year-old Samuel Meyiwa appeared in Yaba Magistrate’s Court after it was alleged that he had gambled with money from his employer.

The Lagos State Police Command preferred one charge of theft against the defendant, which led to his arraignment before Magistrate A.O. Salawu on Thursday.

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Evidence presented in court revealed that Meyiwa worked for a Bariga-based company in March as a driver who used a vehicle to deliver sachet water, but he has been gambling with a portion of his daily earnings without his employer’s knowledge.

The complainant claims that at some point in October, he went to sell N88,000 worth of sachet water. He did not return the money, but instead, days later, he came to inform his supervisor that his clients owed him money. Over time, this behaviour turned into a routine.

But in November, Meyiwa left as usual, taking with him bags of N300,000 worth of sachet water. He provided all the items, but with the money he went to a bet, which he lost, and then fled.

Attempts to contact him were unsuccessful until he was discovered working for a different company, at which point the police detained him.

Oriabure informed the court that Meyiwa had committed the crime at Okusanya Street, off Adebayo Road, Bariga, between March and November 2023. She also stated that the crime had violated Section 287(7) of the Lagos State of Nigeria 2015 Criminal Law.

The charge stated, “That you, Samuel Meyiwa, sometime between March and November 2023 in Bariga in the Yaba Magisterial District, did steal the sum of three hundred thousand naira cash from Freedom Pure Water Company, located at No. 10 NG Okusanya street off Adebayo Road, Bariga, where you were employed as a driver, and that you are therefore guilty of an offence that is punishable under Section 287 (7) of the Lagos State of Nigeria 2015 Criminal Law.”

To the single count that was filed against him, the defendant entered a not guilty plea.

The magistrate heard his plea, granted him N100,000 bail with two responsible sureties in the same amount, and postponed the trial to January 25, 2024.