Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State, has convicted and sentenced a 50-year-old truck driver, Kasimu Bawa, to two years imprisonment for unlawful possession of minerals valued at about N2.4 million.
Bawa was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on a one-count charge bordering on unlawful possession of minerals without legal authorization.
According to the charge, the defendant was arrested in September 2022 at Share, along Tsaragi Road in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State, while transporting 25 tons of minerals in a DAF truck.
The court heard that the minerals, valued at N2,498,000, were being conveyed without lawful authority, contrary to provisions of the Miscellaneous Offences Act of 1984.
The defendant pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him, leading to a full trial.
During the proceedings, the prosecution presented two witnesses, including a Chief Remote Sensing Officer with the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, Ifarinde Odeyemi, who told the court that laboratory analysis confirmed the seized substances to be lepidolite, a lithium-bearing mineral.
The prosecution also urged the court to order the forfeiture of both the truck and the minerals to the Federal Government after establishing its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Delivering judgment, Justice Awogboro found Bawa guilty and sentenced him to two years imprisonment with an option of a N5 million fine.
The court further ordered the forfeiture of the truck and the 25 tons of minerals to the Federal Government.
Investigations revealed that the convict was arrested by operatives of the EFCC’s Ilorin Zonal Directorate on September 9, 2022, while transporting the suspected illegally mined minerals.
The commission also disclosed that the minerals were allegedly purchased without licence by a Chinese national identified as Gang Deng, who had earlier been convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment by the same court in October 2022.