50-year old truck driver jailed for illegal mining in Kwara

The Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the conviction of a 50-year-old truck driver, Kasimu Bawa, for unlawful possession and transportation of illegally mined minerals valued at about N2.4 million in Kwara State.

Bawa, who hails from Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State, was sentenced by Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin after being found guilty of the offence brought against him by the anti-graft agency.

According to the EFCC, the convict was arrested on September 9, 2022, at Share along the Tsaragi Road in Edu Local Government Area while conveying 25 tons of suspected illegally mined minerals in a DAF truck.

Investigations revealed that the minerals were allegedly purchased without a valid licence by a Chinese national, Gang Deng, who had earlier been convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment by the same court in October 2022.

Bawa was subsequently arraigned on November 1, 2022, on a one-count charge bordering on unlawful possession of minerals without lawful authority.

THE PRIME NEWS gathered that the charge stated that the defendant unlawfully possessed 25 tons of minerals worth N2.498 million conveyed in a truck with registration number KEY 777ZF, contrary to the provisions of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 1984.

Although Bawa pleaded not guilty, the prosecution proceeded with a full trial and presented two witnesses, including a Chief Remote Sensing Officer of the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency, Ifarinde Odeyemi, and the investigating officer.

During the proceedings, the court heard that laboratory analysis conducted on the seized minerals confirmed them to be lepidolite, a lithium-bearing mineral.

Counsel to the EFCC, Innocent Mbachie, urged the court to convict the defendant, arguing that the prosecution had successfully established its case beyond reasonable doubt.

He also sought the forfeiture of the truck and the minerals to the Federal Government.

In his judgment, Justice Awogboro found the defendant guilty and sentenced him to two years imprisonment with an option of a N5 million fine.

The court also ordered the forfeiture of the truck and the seized minerals to the Federal Government.