A lodger, Joy Chiaka, on
Tuesday appeared before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court in Lagos for allegedly
failing to settle her hotel bills, totaling N151,000.
Chiaka, 40, whose
occupation and address were not provided, is being tried for fraud and dishonest
use of property.
The Prosecutor, Insp.
George Nwosu, told court that the accused committed the offences on Oct. 12 at
Kofoworola Street, Ikeja, Lagos.
He said that the accused
lodged in a hotel for 15 days and was provided meals for the period without
paying the accumulated bill of N151,000.
“The accused came with
her son to lodge at Destiny Hotel and fed for 15 days but refused to pay.”
Nwosu said that when the
accused checked into the hotel, all effort to pay through the hotel POS machine
was unsuccessful.
“When the accused came
in, she tried to make payment through the hotel’s POS machine that night but
the transaction was not successful, the management thought it was network
problem.
“The accused promised to
pay the money the following day and the hotel accommodated her with her son.
“But unfortunately, the
accused did not make payment either through the POS or ATM, she kept giving
assurances of payment until she spent 15 days.
“When the management of
the hotel insisted that the accused must pay her bills on the 15th day, she
told them that she did not have money,” Nwosu said
The offences allegedly
committed by Chiaka contravened Sections 278 and 312 of the Criminal Law of
Lagos State, 2011.
The News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 312 stipulates a 15-year imprisonment for
offenders, if found liable.
The accused pleaded not
guilty of the offences and was granted bail in the sum of N100,000 with two
sureties in like sum.
The Magistrate, Mr A.A.
Adesanya, adjourned the case till Nov. 11 for mention.
-NAN
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