The convicts, Samuel Sunday and Saheed Lawal Akanji, alongside Saaskrona Nigeria Limited, were separately arraigned before Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Ilorin on charges bordering on unlawful possession and processing of solid minerals without the required licences.
The EFCC said the prosecution followed credible intelligence alleging that some individuals were illegally dealing in and processing solid minerals in Kwara State without valid mining licences.
Acting on the intelligence, EFCC operatives conducted surveillance and arrested Sunday at his factory in the Olorunda area beside Deeper Life Camp, Eiyenkorin, while Akanji was apprehended at his factory opposite Ojaja University along Passa Road, Eiyenkorin.
Investigations revealed that the defendants were unlawfully processing and dealing in minerals including Smithsonite, Calcite, Anhydrite, Tennantite and Quartz without the licences required under the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, 2007.
Meanwhile, the defendants pleaded guilty to the charges after EFCC counsel Rashidat Alao presented the facts of the cases and tendered documentary evidence as well as the recovered minerals before the court.
Justice Awogboro subsequently sentenced Sunday to 12 months’ imprisonment with an option of a N2 million fine and ordered the forfeiture of the 140 tonnes of mineral ore recovered from his site to the Federal Government.
Similarly, the court sentenced Akanji to 12 months’ imprisonment with an option of a N1 million fine, fined Saaskrona Nigeria Limited N1 million and ordered the forfeiture of the 90 tonnes of minerals recovered from the company’s site to the Federal Government.
Advertisements
