Rivers: Two Convicted For Crude Oil Theft

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Port Harcourt zonal office, has on Thursday secured the conviction of Oghenovo Emmanuel and Abdullahi Hassan Bika at the Federal High Court for illegal dealing on petroleum products.

Justice M.L. Abubakar sentenced the duo to five years imprisonment, but gave them an option of N150,000 fine.

Emmanuel was prosecuted and convicted on one-count charge bordering on illegal dealing on petroleum product.

He was said to have on 29th November 2019, around Sambreino River, Rivers State, appropriated license deal on petroleum product to himself and committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (17) (a) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act.

Emmanuel and Bika, who was slammed with a similar charge, pleaded guilty.

The prosecution lawyer, M. T Iko tendered some documents and urged the court to convict the defendants accordingly.

The documents, admitted in evidence, were a handover note from Nigerian Navy, NNS Pathfinder; a letter from the Department of Petrolatum Resources (DPR); statement of the defendants and a letter of from National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA.

The lawyer to the defendants, R. U. Oyiwona, prayed the court to temper justice with mercy saying they were breadwinners to their families.

Abubakar convicted and sentenced the defendants to five years imprisonment each, with an option of N150,000 fine.

Emmanuel and Bika were arrested in December 2019 by the Nigerian Navy in Sambreiro River and handed over to the EFCC for prosecution.

THE NATION