An Abuja-based Pastor, Francis Innocent, 38, of Kurudu, Abuja, had denied charges of stealing medicines instituted against him at a Karu Senior Magistrates’ Court, Abuja.
He was alleged to have stolen some medicines from Perpetual Pharmacy, Kurudu, Abuja, where his wife, Joy Francis, works. In his defence, Innocent said that sometime in 2012 he went to the pharmacy where his wife worked to collect cake and “chin-chin’’ in a polythene bag and not medicines.
He said “sometime in 2012, my wife called me to come to her place of work and collect cake and “chin-chin’’ which somebody brought for me.
“On reaching there, I saw her attending to a customer and after that she picked the cake and the “chin-chin’’, which were in a polythene bag on the table and gave it to me and I left.
“It was cake and “chin-chin’’ I collected from the pharmacy and not stolen drugs. In fact, one Mrs Hope was there when I collected the snacks.’’ The pastor said he stopped his wife from working in the pharmacy when the owner forced her to take an oath, “which is against my religion’’.
He said that his wife used to run a patent medicine shop at Mararaba-Loko, Abuja, but because of the distance from where they lived, she closed the shop. He also said that getting a shop at Kurudu was not easy due to the rules and regulations of opening a pharmacy in the community.
“The rules state that a shop must have a distance of 200m from another chemist shop. So, instead of my wife staying at home idle, she decided to pick a job at Perpetual Pharmacy,’’ Innocent said.
After the accused’s defence, his counsel, Felix Iyoha, applied for an adjournment to enable him to bring more witnesses.
The Senior Magistrate, Mr Celestine Odo, adjourned the case to Aug. 31 for continuation of defence as the prosecutor, Cpl. Glory Iheanacho, did not oppose the counsel’s application.
Innocent and his wife were first arraigned on July 24, 2012 for alleged joint act and theft. Ihenacho told the court that the case was lodged by David Onwuliri at the Kurudu Police Station, Abuja.
The prosecution said the couple stole a large quantity of drugs from the pharmacy belonging to Onwuliri, where Joy was employed as sales nurse. She said that the drugs, which value was unknown, were later discovered in their possession and they could not account for them.
Although the accused had pleaded not guilty, Iheanacho said investigation into the matter was ongoing.
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