Court jails six oil thieves in Port Harcourt
A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State has convicted and sentenced six oil thieves to various terms of imprisonment.
The defendants, Abubakar Lawan; Okwe Victor; Justice Samson; Baffa Abubakar, Usman Mohammed and Chris Chinda were jailed on different dates in February 2022 by Justices E.A.Obile, P.I.Ajokwu and S.I Mark, after pleading “guilty” to one-count separate charges bordering on illegal dealing in petroleum products, upon their arraignment by the Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the EFCC.
The lone count against Victor read:
“That you Okwe Victor on or about 20th day of May, 2019 at Omoku, Port Harcourt, Rivers State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court dealt in petroleum product to wit: about 45 bags of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) conveyed in a Toyota Jeep with Registration Number: AFM 144 SN which was not of the quality expected of such product and thereby committed an offence contrary and punishable under Section 1 (8)(ii) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act CAP M17 of the Revised Edition (Laws of the Federation of Nigeria), 2007.”
In view of their pleas, prosecution counsel, Obinwa Franca, N.A Dodo and Tanko Mustapha Iko, prayed the court to convict and sentence the defendants accordingly.
Justice Obile convicted and sentenced Lawan, Victor and Samson to two (2) years imprisonment each, with option of fines. Lawan was given an option of N300,000 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira only) fine, while Victor and Samson were given a fine of N200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand only) each.
Justice Ajokwu convicted and sentenced Abubakar to two (2) years imprisonment with an option of fine of N300,000 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira only), and Mohammed to one (1) year imprisonment with an option of fine of N400,000 (Four Hundred Thousand Naira only).
Justice Mark convicted and sentenced Chinda to two years imprisonment with an option of fine of N200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira only).
The Judges also ordered that the illegally refined products in the Trucks with registration numbers; XA 197 JBY, BAU 429 XR, KVR 158 ZN, GWA 251 XA, AKU 22 XA be forfeited to the Federal government through the EFCC. This requires the Secretary of the EFCC, alongside other stakeholders to sound and sell the products and remit the proceeds into the Consolidated Revenue Account of the Federation while the Toyota Jeep with registration number AFM 144 SN be forfeited to the Federal government.
The convicts were arrested on different dates and location by the Anti-bunkering Team of 6 Division, Nigerian Army in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and troops of the Joint Task Force, Operation Delta Safe, at Igbogene, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State while transporting illegal refined petroleum products to Kano State.
