A man claiming to be a prophet, Ezekiel Onikoyi, has been sentenced to two weeks in prison for stealing a woman’s handbag after tricking her with a false prophecy.
Onikoyi, 39, was found guilty by an Ibadan Magistrate’s Court on charges of theft, obtaining money through deception, and behavior likely to disturb public order.
The incident took place on March 14 at the Old Toll Gate along the Ibadan-Lagos Expressway.
According to the prosecutor, Sergeant Samuel Owolabi, Onikoyi approached Mrs. Balikis Adeoti, who was on her way home from work, and pretended to have received a divine message.
He instructed her to leave her handbag and walk to a junction to pray, advising her to place N100 at the spot to resolve her supposed troubles.
When Adeoti complied, Onikoyi took her handbag, which contained a phone, a power bank valued at N220,000, and N4,000 in cash.
Although the power bank was later retrieved, the phone was not recovered.
Magistrate Gladys Oladele ruled Onikoyi guilty and sentenced him to two weeks in prison at the Agodi Correctional Centre.
Additionally, the court ordered that the recovered power bank be returned to the victim.
However, the magistrate offered Onikoyi the alternative of serving one month of community service instead of jail time.
