According to starrfm.com.gh, this harsh judgment comes as a result of his involvement in the theft of electrical wires valued at GH₵59,000.
The news website reports the prosecution saying that Gariba, an ex-convict, was apprehended on November 19, 2023, at Akyem Anyinasin after targeting a newly constructed a two-storey building.
The now-convict’s method involved removing all the electrical wires from the premises and burning them to extract the valuable copper. Subsequently, he attempted to hide the stolen wires in a nearby bush.
However, Gariba's luck took a turn for the worse when he returned to retrieve the stolen goods, leading to his prompt apprehension by vigilant individuals who handed him over to the police.
The gravity of this case was intensified by Gariba's previous conviction for a similar cable theft in 2020, where he faced a 23-month sentence from the Akyem Tafo Magistrate Court. Given his recurrent involvement in criminal activities, the Koforidua Circuit Court deemed it necessary to impose a heightened sentence of 14 years on the young student.
This incident comes just a few months after a 19-year-old final-year Science student from Ofori Panin SHS (OPASS) was lynched by unknown assailants in Koforidua on July 12 for an alleged attempted robbery.
The student, Kelvin Bonzy alias Paa Kwasi, was already facing robbery charges at the Koforidua Circuit Court and had been suspended indefinitely by the school's management.
Kelvin Bonzy had reportedly robbed a fellow OPASS student and a teacher from OPASS Junior High School of their mobile phones about a month before the lynching incident.
Despite being charged with robbery and granted bail to write the West Africa Secondary Schools Certificate Examination (WASSCE), he unfortunately engaged in a similar crime that ultimately cost him his life.