Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Ilorin, Kwara State, has convicted and sentenced a truck driver, Kasimu Bawa, to two years imprisonment for unlawful possession of minerals valued at N2.4 million.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of 25 tons of lithium-bearing minerals and the truck used in transporting them to the Federal Government.
Bawa, 50, was arraigned by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on November 1, 2022, on a one-count charge bordering on unlawful possession of minerals without lawful authority.
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 valued at N2,498,000 in a DAF truck marked KEY 777ZF.
The prosecution said the offence contravened provisions of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 1984.
Bawa pleaded not guilty to the charge, leading to a full trial.
During the proceedings, the prosecution called two witnesses, including a Chief Remote Sensing Officer with the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, Ifarinde Odeyemi, and the investigating officer.
Odeyemi told the court that laboratory analysis conducted on the seized minerals confirmed them to be lepidolite, a lithium-bearing mineral.
The defence also called two witnesses, including the defendant.
In his final address, prosecuting counsel, Innocent Mbachie, urged the court to convict the defendant, arguing that the prosecution had established its case beyond reasonable doubt. He also sought the forfeiture of the truck and minerals to the Federal Government.
Delivering judgment, Justice Awogboro found the defendant guilty and sentenced him to two years imprisonment with an option of N5 million fine.
The court further ordered the forfeiture of the truck and the seized minerals to the Federal Government.
Bawa was arrested by EFCC operatives on September 9, 2022, while transporting the minerals suspected to have been illegally mined.
The EFCC disclosed that the truck was allegedly conveying minerals purchased without licence by a Chinese national, Gang Deng, who had earlier been convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment by the same court on October 19, 2022.
